


Three's Company

by Brooke_chadwick



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Multi, Pureblood Hermione Granger, Severus Snape Lives, Sirius Black Lives, Triad - Freeform, betrothal contract
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-01-06 18:27:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18393929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brooke_chadwick/pseuds/Brooke_chadwick
Summary: Hermione is returning to Hogwarts for 8th Year to complete her schooling, this will be a year for friends and grades with no sociopathic Dark Lord trying to kill her. It will be quiet, calm and a time to make memories..Or at least thats what she said to convince Harry and Ron to return with her. She should know by now, drama follows her like a lost puppy, but at least this is a good kind of drama.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Basically I had the urge to write something so I scrolled through Potter Wiki to find an interesting fact to get me started.  
> The first fact I hadn't known was that the Death Eater who wiped out the McKinnon family was Travers, so I went with it.
> 
> This is my FIRST fan fiction, so bare with me. I won't be setting an update schedule or anything. Its something I'm doing in any spare time I find :)

_~July 1981~_

As Sirius apparted to the ward boundary of McKinnon Estate, he prayed. He prayed to merlin, Morgana and Circe. He prayed to every muggle god Lily had ever mentioned and then some he wasn’t even sure existed. The order received intel from Snape, and the McKinnons’ were in danger. Marlene’s betrayal of her husband had become known and the death-eaters were coming for her – he hoped he wasn’t too late.

He hadn’t spoken to her in about 18 months, but he couldn’t lie to himself; she always was and always would be the love of his life. They had dated back at Hogwarts and he had assumed she would be his, once he was ready to settle down of course, he had to ‘sow his wild oats’ as James would say. Except that wasn’t how it played out. Upon graduation, Marlene was informed that her parents had signed a betrothal contract. “To a family of the sacred 28 Marlene, you will want for nothing” they had said while he stood there wondering if he had on James’ cloak – surely they hadn’t seen him, they were acting as if they weren’t already dating…casually, but still! As it turned out, the contract had been made with the Travers family, specifically Thomas. At the time, Sirius recalled he was a few years older friends with the likes of Lucius Malfoy, if Malfoy had friends… maybe acquaintance was a better word.

She was reluctantly wed six months later- her parents couldn’t afford the restitution price for voiding the contract and her owls had stopped instantly. Thomas wouldn’t let her have contact with an ex-boyfriend, she would be on a tight leash until she provided an heir and could file for divorce. It wasn’t regularly done in wizarding society, but it wasn’t unheard of. When she was reported missing August of 1979, the prophet had a field day. The headline had stuck with him **MARLENE TRAVERS PREGNANT WITH THE TRAVERS HEIR, MISSING - PRESUMED DEAD**. He had apparated to McKinnon Estate that morning to offer her parents his support when she walked out of her room heavy with child. The relief he felt was consuming, he could feel the hairline fractures in his heart snap back together as if they hadn’t existed, tears sprung to his eyes as he ran to her, enveloping her in his arms, careful to not crush her protruding middle.

When he could form words, the questions started spilling “Are you ok? What happened? What’s with the Prophet article? When did y….”

“Sirius! Calm down, I’ll explain” Marlene butted in, “I’m okay in the literal sense, but I’m not safe, far from it. I’m in hiding, as you’re aware, the estate wards are centuries old, I could only be safer if a fidelius was in place, but I won’t be here long enough for it to be placed”

“James and Lily are putting the fidelius in place at Godric’s Hollow, I’ll talk to them, we can..” Sirius offered, but Marlene once again stopped him, this time with a finger to his lips “No Sirius, you don’t understand. Its not just me I need to protect.” Marlene glanced down, placing a gentle hand on her bump. “I had planned to give birth and then divorce Thomas, but I fell in love with my child. I couldn’t leave her, I was planning to staying at Travers Hall and raise my daughter- no matter the personal cost, but Thomas called me to his study after our healer advised I was with daughter. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were there, and they wanted a betrothal contract with their firstborn son. She’s not even pregnant yet!”

“So you wanted to protect your daughter from marrying a Death Eater’s son? Marlene, you knew this would happen, your husband is a Death Eater, it was unavoidable. You never had a problem with arranged marriages, you and Alex signed a contract in seventh year for your eldest children to be married in the instance they were of differing sexes” Sirius explained, slightly confused to what the issue actually was.

“Yes Sirius! That’s what I’m trying to do, Alexandria and I were children when we signed that contract, neither of us were married, we were just best friends with a pipe dream that our children would fall in love, I doubt the contract even stands, and that’s besides the point. I will not force my daughter to marry, not now I’ve lived through the pain of having my choices ripped away.” Marlene’s tears had overflowed and were running down her cheeks. Wiping his thumbs gently under her eyes, Sirius nodded, he didn’t have a child but if he did, he wouldn’t force them to marry someone they didn’t know.

“So what are you doing Marl? I understand the why, but not the what”

“I’m leaving Sirius, I’m due in a month, my mother is a healer. Once the baby is born I will find her a muggle family to live with, then I will come back and fight. My daughter will be safe until He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is gone and I can retrieve her, with any luck Thomas will be dead and I can raise her as I please. She stated firmly, nodding as if to reassure herself that her plan was solid.

“And what if you die Marls? What of your daughter then?”

Her eyes snapped to his, while her hair was slightly dull and her skin slightly pale- due to the pregnancy he assumed- her eyes were fierce, “As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death. I will die knowing my daughter is safe and loved, and that is enough for me.”

Snapping out of his trip down memory lane, Sirius noticed that the wards were still up, “thank Merlin” he signed stepping though. He found himself suspended mid-step and could feel the magic soak in his essence, assessing whether he would be permitted. Only a few moments later, his foot settled on the grass inside the wards. ‘Those were stronger than the last time I was here’ he thought to himself as he made for the back door.

Barging in with barely enough time for the sound of his knock to reach the inhabitants, Sirius yelled “Mathias, Magdalene! Where are you?”. “Calm down Sirius dear, why are you here?” Magdalene serenely admonished from the kitchen as Mathias appeared in front of him “you foolish boy! You could have been seen! this is why you never deserved our daughter! Your foolhardiness and brashness would always put her in danger. We have been watched since the day Marlene left Thomas and you are adding more danger to us by showing your face here.

“More danger than you put her in, marrying her off to a death eater?” Sirius screamed back. Mathias, Marlene’s father never liked him. He was sacred 28, he was wealthy, he was good-looking, he was everything Mathias thought Thomas Travers was, and he fought for the light! There was no reason for the man’s hatred, yet he was never enough. “where is she? She’s not safe here”.

Mathias paused, contemplating his next words carefully, “She’s not here, she hasn’t been since she gave birth in 1979, she didn’t return as planned. We believe she stayed in the muggle world with the baby”. Sirius was gobsmacked, did her father genuinely not care about her? How could he let her walk away from the magical world without a trace? At least she would be safe, that was all he cared about.

“Thank Merlin, you’ve been betrayed. Our spy just sent word, He-who-must-not-be-named Is sending Death Eaters here under the impression Marlene is here hiding, Travers became aware of her location and is heading a team with the intent of killing Marls and taking back the Travers Heir. You must leave within the hour, we are unsure when they will attack, but the plans have been made” Sirius was shaking with adrenalin, he got the message to them in time, but he needed to get them out before it was too late.

A soft voice broke the silence, a voice he could never forget, “Who betrayed us Sirius?” turning to face the voice, Sirius was greeted with a sight beautiful enough to make him weep, but terrifying enough to give him a heart attack. There Marlene stood, looking as stunning as she had in 79’ sans a bulging abdomen. His memories never did her justice, He could never remember the exact shade of her ginger hair, slightly darker than a strawberry blonde but much lighter and more subtle than Lily’s fire red. He could never picture the golden specks in her amber eyes that sparkled under dim lights, and he sure as hell couldn’t picture her curves – those were new.

Marlene moved her hand to his shoulder and repeated her question. “Sirius, who betrayed me? The only people who knew of my location were Lily, James, Remus, Peter and yourself. I didn’t even tell Alexandria in case her husband managed to pull the information from her”.

“I don’t know Marls, I’m sorry” he replied as Mathias cut in “Marlene we told you to stay out of sight, we could have hid you without anyone knowing, your friends clearly cannot be trusted to keep you safe”.

It was time for Sirius to leave, he needed to get to Godric’s hollow, Lily was resetting the fidelius with Peter as the secret keeper, there was far to much heat on his name. “I’ll leave Mathias” Sirius said, “protect her and tell no one of her location, get yourself and Magdalene out too. I’ll see you on the other side of the war, or if fate decides it, in the next life”

It wasn’t until the following morning’s prophet when his world shattered. **‘ENTIRE MCKINNON FAMILY SLAUGHTERED IN VIOLET DEATH EATER ATTACK’**. They hadn’t made it out in time and Marlene’s daughter would never know the sacrifice her mother made to keep her safe.


	2. Heading Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, We're getting into the actual story now...enjoy!

_1 st September 1998_

“Why are we here, Mione?” Ron asked as they stood on platform 9 ¾ waiting to board the Hogwarts express. They were returning for their ‘8th year’ seeing as the previous year had been a write off in regards to education. Shortly after the fall of Voldemort, the golden trio received their Order of Merlin: First Class’ and Ron had expected to be handed his auror badge on the spot, he had helped defeat Voldemort for Circe sake, ‘who needs auror training after hunting horcruxes?’ she recalled him saying no less than 20 times.

Their relationship hadn’t progressed, not that they didn’t try but any subsequent attempts at snogging just felt wrong, not that Ron wasn’t a good kisser, he tried and he took her advice under wing, it just felt like she was kissing Harry, or the twins. She told him so after the second week of attempting a relationship, she had her shields ready to go, prepared for the Weasley temper tantrum she knew was coming, but Ron just sighed. A look of pure relief and gratefulness crossed his features. “I love you Moine but I you’re right, it’s like kissing Ginny!” he replied with a laugh while hugging her.

She was so relieved he felt the same way, they were much better as friends. He would definitely make some witch very happy, he had grown into his lanky frame and the confidence boost that came from being a member of the golden trio had him walking with grace, he could finally command the attention in a room and he knew it. His skin had cleared and a healthy diet had his blue eyes bright, he was no longer the half-starved boy living in the forest hunting horcruxes and second guessing everything except his ability to win a game of chess, but alas, that witch was not her.

“Ron, we all received the same letter. The ministry requires all would-be graduated Hogwarts students to repeat the last year of schooling, we didn’t take our NEWTS and no free-passes are being handed out. Wizarding Britain needs to recuperate, we are building from the ground up, the ministry couldn’t afford to pay us at the moment anyway. Even with the reparations from those found to have been following Voldemort, there just isn’t enough money to train incoming employees who aren’t qualified for the job”. She sighed, she knew her tone wasn’t kind, but she had explained this to both Ron and Harry multiple times. They were together when the owls came. They had all the facts she did, and for all that Ron had physically matured, he could still whine like a baby with the best of them.

Ginny had clearly heard enough, “Oh for god sake Ronald! George offered you to work for him at WWW and you turned him down. AURORS NEED TO TAKE NEWTS, I’m honestly sick of hearing this same conversation, you can’t have your cake and eat it too”. Hermione smirked at Gin over her shoulder, the two had become close over the months since May 2nd (Now celebrated as defeat day), along with Luna and surprisingly Daphne Greengrass. The Greengrass’ went into hiding before the final battle and emerged after Voldemort’s fall. They had been seeking refuge with the Lovegoods’ who were apparently distant cousins. Hermione didn’t know why she was even surprised, all the purebloods were somehow related.

“Ginny, shut up. I have like 5 reasons for bringing it up. First, George offered my 100 galleons a week for full time work, 100 Gin! Percy was making 200 galleons a week as an entry level ministry employee, he was a glorified owl and he was earning double what I was offered”. Catching Ginny’s eye, Hermione rolled her own as if to say ‘here we go, look what you’ve started’. Ron continued on. “Second, I have more practical knowledge than all the junior aurors for the simple fact I helped kill the noseless git. Three, all the death eaters got off because they’re rich basically a get-out-of-jail-free card, except they paid.” Ginny started walking away, she had less tolerance for her brother than Hermione or even Harry. With a sidelong glance at Hermione, Harry followed Ginny, muttering under his breath. Hermione was sure she heard ‘that was only three reasons, idiot’ but she couldn’t be sure. The relationship between the boys had been a little touchy of late.

It started when Ron and Hermione had decided that a relationship wouldn’t work between them, Ron had told Harry that he should break up with Ginny so they could ‘be bachelors together and pick up heaps of witches’. Harry was not impressed, nor was Ginny. Ron was on the receiving end of a few bat-bogey hexes that week.  Just the memory of it made a giggle escape from Hermione’s lips unbid. It only got worse when Harry and Hermione testified for the Malfoys.

They asked Ron to join them but he declined, apparently the fact that Draco refused to identify them at the manor, or that Narcissa lied directly to Voldemort to save Harry’s life wasn’t worth the time it would take out of his day. The argument that ensued was epic, and Ron said things he didn’t mean. Harry was a traitor letting his obsession with Draco cloud his judgement and Hermione was simply a fan whore going along with what Harry wanted just to get a piece of chosen dick. It didn’t help that the whole Weasley family had overheard the disagreement- more like ‘the rant’, seeing as Harry and Hermione couldn’t get a word in. Ginny sent hexes, George put spiders through his draws, Molly had him de-gnoming the garden and Arthur made him write ‘heartfelt apology letters’ to his best friends. But Harry still hadn’t really forgiven him or swept it under the rug like she had.

“Ron, I get what your saying” Hermione tried to comfort him, “But the ‘Death Eaters’ didn’t get off scot-free. They all paid hefty reparations, had their wands confiscated and their magic bound. Yes, you’re right, they should have been sentenced to Azkaban, but it was destroyed when Voldemort broke out his followers. Between the two Azkaban wings that weren’t destroyed and the ministry holding cells, there wasn’t enough cells for prisoners who were full death eaters, let alone children who were forced to be marked by their parents. The DMLE has worked tirelessly to decide which prisoners need to be detained and which can serve their sentences out of a cell”. For a moment, Hermione thought she had made him understand, he was contemplating her words and she could see the cogs turning in his head. It wasn’t fair, it was crap, but it was the best that could be provided given the current circumstance.

While watching Ron formulate a rebuttal, Hermione thought on her own words. There were definitely a few death Eaters she felt deserved prison cells who were walking the streets sans magic. It seemed that those of the Sacred 28 had more leeway than the other purebloods – ironic given the fact that a war had just been fought and won over blood status. Thorus Nott was free, as was Lucius Malfoy, Avery, Fawley and Travers. The latter having been found of no crimes from the second wizarding war and having ‘served his time for sins of the first war’ before being freed from Azkaban by Voldemort. The Wizengamont used that excuse more than once with those ‘wealthier’ families…bribery at its finest.

Hermione was startled from her thoughts with a shove from Ron, he had clearly taken her words to heart as he seemed to drop the subject, “lets go find Harry and Gin, oh Brightest witch of her age” he joked as he continued nudging her shoulder to keep her moving. “We gotta get to the compartment before they get too comfortable, I don’t want to see Harry’s tongue down my baby sister’s throat again. They’re like a mother and baby bird, I swear, regurgitating and eating each other’s lunch” They both shuddered ad the mental image, but Hermione couldn’t fault his description. She had been witness to more than one snogging session, each leaving her more queasy than the one before. At the rate their relationship was progressing, and the stories Ginny shared after lights out in their room at the Burrow, Hermione was more worried she’d find them naked. Harry’s pasty arse was not something she needed to see at 10.30am- not that she would tell Ron that, Ginny had sworn her to secrecy, well Her, Luna and Daph.

Arriving at the compartment Hermione loudly announced they were coming in, just to be safe, but she needn’t have worried, Luna and Neville had already joined Harry and Gin. Hermione and Ron took the last two seats, Ron sitting next to Neville and Hermione taking the final seat beside Ginny with a slight cringe – if they started making out and leant on her again she was out. Or throwing hexes, she hadn’t decided yet.

“Don’t worry Hermione, the wrackspurts are already congregating around Harry’s ears, he will be far too distracted to initiate any intimacy with Ginny until he clears them. You should be safe for at least the first half of the journey, though if I’m mistaken and they do start touching you, I’m sure you could just join in and enjoy an orgasm also, it’s a great way to detox the aura of  negative facets” Luna gave her speech without raising her eyes from the latest edition of the quibbler, by this stage everyone but Neville was used to Luna’s odd outbursts and took them in stride.

Neville was staring at the dreamy blonde, mouth agape, turning toward Harry, Ginny and Hermione and back again, unsure who he was more shocked with. “Wait, since when did Hermione start shagging you two, I thought you were dating Ron!” Hermione barely glanced from her arithmancy book on her lap, she didn’t want to open that can of worms, luckily she was once again saved by her fearless ginger warrior princess, “No they aren’t dating, decided they couldn’t imagine having sex, she doesn’t sleep with us… yet” “WAIT, WHAT!” Ron sputtered.

“Well dear brother, when one is bisexual, they tend to enjoy the company of both sexes, so yes, I would happily shag one stunning brunette bookworm and I’m sure Harry would have no objections to a second woman in our bed” The blush on Hermione’s cheeks had spread down her neck and chest, she opened her mouth to change the subject when Ron had yet another outburst. “You can’t be bisexual, your dating Harry! Harry tell her she doesn’t know what she’s talking about!” Harry just raised one eyebrow, he was not in the habit of fighting Ginny’s battles OR telling her what she can or couldn’t do. He may have defeated Voldemort but even he knew he stood no chance against a pissed off Ginny Weasley. Surprisingly it was Neville who spoke up to Ginny’s defence “Ron, she dated Lavender for like 6 weeks before she was even on your radar, I’m sure Ginny knows if she is attracted to females or not”.

“Either way, she definitely knows how to give women orgasms, it was a great stress relief for me before she started dating Harry, and I think she enjoyed herself also” Ron gaped at Luna, he clearly wasn’t privy to this little tidbit. Hermione found out one night when Ginny, Luna, Daph and herself tried fairy wine, they weren’t aware it made the drinker spill their secrets, but they were with people they each trusted and it made for a really fun night.

“Oh my god, I’m gonna be sick” Ron stated, looking a tad green. His eyes were flicking over to Ginny occasionally, clearly seeing his sister in a new light. She wasn’t as innocent as he thought, and Harry, how could Harry be ok with his girlfriend being a lesbian? He would have to talk to him when they were alone in the dorms tonight.

The journey passed with no further jaw-dropping revelations until Daphne popped her head into the compartment, surprising Ron, who suddenly started running his hands through his hair and sitting up straighter. ‘curious’ Hermione thought, before brushing the thought aside. It was a standard male reaction to Daphne, the blonde had supermodel looks, much like Fleur but with long loose blonde curls like Luna. To an outsider she could pass as a princess, calm, demure, graceful but she was cunning and ambitious, she was sorted into Slytherin after all, and she had a sense of humour to rival the Weasley twins. “Hey Guys! I was just popping in to see if the girls wanted to come get changed, Pansy and Tracy are with me and I thought I would introduce you all”.

The girls all stood and started getting their robes when Ron snidely whispered “You sure you wanna do that Mione? Ginny might try shag you”. Daphne giggled, a look of surprise on her face. “Oh shit, who told Ron about fairy wine night?” “DAPHNE!” Ginny and Hermione yelled in tandem, Hermione blushing and Ginny smirking at Harry “I told you I tried, you didn’t believe me” Harry nodded “You’re right, I didn’t believe you, but I won’t make the same mistake twice. I forget how fearless you are love. Sorry Mione, she’s insatiable once she gets an idea in her head”.

The girls followed Daphne toward the back of the train where Pansy was holding a door open for them. With only a slight moment of hesitation, Hermione and Ginny walked in. Luna had no qualms and walked right in stripping her scarf and cardigan before the door was even closed. Pansy looked toward the non-slytherins, “Look, I just want to start off on the right foot, I’m sorry I was such a bitch the last seven years. Appearances you know? Anyway, that’s not the real me… well it is, I am a bitch but I can be less of a bitch if you’d like… I mean I can try be less of a bitch, but I cant promise anything” she clearly struggled to apologise, it was obviously something she had little experience with but her heart was in the right place.

“Jeez Parkinson, don’t give yourself an aneurism” Ginny joked.

Hermione wanted to make sure Pansy was aware they appreciated her efforts. “Thankyou Pansy, I understand what your saying and I just want to clarify, I will not put up with the blood status crap, I plan to enjoy a year of study with my friends WITHOUT the fear of being cursed for being a muggle-born. If you still believe the crap your parents drooled from the hole in their faces – I want no part in your friendship, but if you’re willing to see me as your equal, I will gladly accept your olive branch”.

Pansy had a face like a smacked arse, clearly unimpressed with having to explain herself further. It was Tracy who broke the silence “Hermione, you have every right to be suspicious of us, but we are genuine. Your group of friends were not the only ones to suffer through the war. Our parents had expectations of us too and it was easier to provide memories of our bullying than to suffer their wrath. It doesn’t make what we did right, but it’s the truth none the less”.

Hermione was reminded of her conversation with Ron a few hours before. She felt like such a hypocrite. If she could forgive Malfoy for his misdeeds, then she could surely forgive Pansy. She hadn’t technically forgiven Malfoy but she had forgiven him in her own head, the rest was semantics. “You’re completely right Tracy, Pansy I apologise, I would love to get to know you and hopefully one day become friends”.

“Hermione,” Daphne ventured, “Loyalty is a trait known for puffs, but you’ll find it prominent in Slytherin too. Unlike the other houses, we can only rely on each other- everyone else judges us before they know us, so when we make friends, we stick by them and we protect them at all costs. We have already discussed it before I invited you all in here. Pans and Trace know I consider you three my best friends, but I also consider them both in the same category, I want us to all be able to rely on one another, we all deserve friendship and loyalty, and I think we will find it in each other”.

The six girls decided to spend the last 30minutes of the journey getting to know one another, it was a little awkward at points but Daphne and Luna both managed to ease the tension as required. Ginny and Pansy got along like a house on fire. They both shared huge personalities with a fiery disposition, a no nonsense attitude and neither cared if they were being a bitch – the truth hurt after all. Hermione was surprised with Tracy also, there was no way she was meant for Slytherin, she had to have negotiated with the sorting hat, she was a puff through and through – not that Hermione voiced her opinion. Luna had no issue raising it though. “Tracy, Hermione believed you negotiated with the sorting hat, she believes you should have been placed with the badgers, I must agree with her deductions, even if she is too polite to voice them” Everyone but Hermione thought that was funny.

“You’re right Hermione, while I am a half blood, my father was a pure blood and he was in Slytherin, I grew up with the children of my fathers’ associates and I have always been shy, not to mention, my father would have had a coronary had I been placed in Hufflepuff. The sorting hat was very accommodating once I aired my concerns, but it looks as though we will need to continue this conversation over a drink tonight or tomorrow before classes on Monday, we’ve arrived”.

As the girls disembarked the train, they saw Harry, Ron and Neville searching the platform for them. Casually walking toward the boys, Hermione noticed that more students had returned than expected, she assumed many would transfer to other magical schools to avoid the painful memories held inside the Hogwarts walls. She could hear her dad’s voice chiding her ‘Never assume Hermione, it makes an ass out of u and me’. God she missed her father. She had managed to track them down about a fortnight after the battle, but the obliviation couldn’t be reversed. The mind magics team at St Mungos tried to comfort her by explaining how thorough her spell-work was, but it had no effect on her depressed state. And she learnt some terrifying information from the search.

Her first idea had been to track them via her blood. While blood tracking spells were considered ‘dark’ Hermione believed it was the intent behind the spell which decided it’s lightness, after all, a simple slicing spell could fatally wound if the intent was there. The blood tracking led her to Knockturn Alley and she knew she had done the spell correctly. So she had gone to her childhood home to look for clues. She could find no birth certificate and none of the photos in the family album had photos of her under the age of two. So she called the Registry of births, deaths and marriages. When they couldn’t locate a birth certificate, they looked through adoption records. This was where they found Hermione’s name but her birth parents were listed as John and Jane Doe. An alias if she’d ever heard one. She hadn’t the heart to tell anyone and had kept the secret to herself. She didn’t want sympathy, the Grangers had raised her, they had loved her and no matter who her birth parents were, Jean and Wendell Granger would always be mum and dad.

Molly had been her biggest comfort, she needed a mother’s touch after such news and Molly held no qualms with stepping into the role. She had told both Hermione and Harry that while she could never replace their mothers, she would always be a second mum to them both. Though they were both technically adults, Hermione and Harry accepted the Weasley matriarch’s offer to formally adopt them, giving them a true family to call their own.

Ginny wrapped her arms around Hermione, shaking her from her thoughts “Luna and I are off, we’ll see you all in the great hall for dinner”.

 As the younger girls joined their year-mates, Daphne noticed Professor Flitwick calling for the 8th years, “Odd, usually the first years go to the boats and everyone else to the carriages”.

Making their way to the vertically challenged professor, Ron saw two of his least favourite people “Great of course Malfoy and Nott had to come back. Its not like they need jobs or money! They’re clearly just here to ruin another year for us”.

Daphne shook her head “They most certainly aren’t Ronald, contrary to popular belief, both Theodore and Draco need to work, they have family empires to run, and between them they employ around 40% of wizarding Britain, If they cant keep their family ventures up and running, many families will starve”. She looked at him imploringly “Not to mention you barely know them. Hermione may be the brightest witch of our age, but Theodore and Draco were second and third in every class excluding divination and care of magical creatures”.

“divination isn’t even a reliable form of magic, I don’t know why anyone even takes it. You either have sight or you don’t, and even then its sketchy” Hermione ranted, “though I’m glad there are others who share my views”.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you all” Daphne sighed, leading them over to the group of Slytherins. Looking over the group, Hermione noted that not only had Malfoy and Nott returned, so had Blaise Zabini. No sign of Crabbe and Goyle. She wasn’t even sure if they made it out of the war alive.

“Theodore, Draco, Blaise” Daphne smiled at each of them as they greeted her with a kiss on the back of her hand. “I’d like to formally introduce you to my new friends, Mister Harry Potter, Mister Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger. I have become quite close with them over the holidays and feel that you would all get along quite well if you were willing to look past each other’s house and your less than amicable histories”

“We already approve of Hermione, but are happy to meet both Mister Weasley and Mister Potter” Tracy ventured as she and Pansy joined the group, “I’m Tracy Davis, and this here is Pansy Parkinson” Tracy and Pansy held out their hands expecting to be greeted as they would in their own circle but the gesture was lost on Harry and Ron.

“hm-hm” Hermione coughed, elbowing Ron’s side. “Oh-err right. I’m Ron and that’s Harry” Ron sputtered. Hermione saw Pansy’s eye twitch slightly at the lack of manners, but she held her tongue. Just then, Professor Flitwick’s voice broke the awkward silence.

“Hello to all of you dubbed our ‘8th years’, you may be wondering why we pulled you aside rather than letting you join your younger classmates to the castle. The reason is this, all ‘8th years’ will be removed from their houses and form a joint temporary house” Some students gasped while others groaned. “Your robes will be altered to reflect this change before you are sent off in the carriages. While you may be upset about the house change, fear not! You will have your own set of dorms and common room and with such a small number of students, you will only share a room with one other person. You will be able to chose that person yourself, though they must be of the same sex. You will also have different rules than the other students as you are now all adults. Curfew will be removed, though we ask you do not flaunt this to the younger students, and you will be able to leave the castle on weekends as you wish”.

The professor smiled at the small group of students, seeing the delight on their faces. They deserved happiness after all they had been through. Their childhoods had been stripped away and they were each forced to mature beyond their years, he was thrilled to delivery such exciting news to them. While the 14 returning students was more than he or the headmistress had expected, they had held out hope for a few more. Those in his house, Ravenclaw, hadn’t returned – save for Padma, most had transferred to Beaubaxons, and only two girls had returned from Hufflepuff which was sure to upset Pomona. The remaining 11 were from Slytherin and Gryffindor, both with new heads of house that wouldn’t care either way.

 “Please take a moment to decide on your room-mate and I will start charming your robes to that of the new house” Professor Flitwick yelled. Ron stepped toward Harry as Harry did the same to Neville causing and awkward moment and finally a glare from Ronald.

Harry tried to soften the blow “Ron, you’ll be bringing girls to the room regularly and it would be disrespectful to Ginny if I witnessed it. You should room with Malfoy or Zabini, rumour has it they like to entertain females regularly”. Ron brightened “Zabini, you wanna room with me?”

“I obviously have no choice seeing as these gits are basically in love with each other” Blaise chortled pointing to Malfoy and Nott. “Fuck off Zabini, Theo and I just don’t want to be witness to your sexcapades and you know it. We are focusing on our studies and keeping our heads down. Who knows, we may even out-grade the resident swot for a change” Malfoy rebutted.

With a raise of her eyebrow, Hermione advised “Well, I love a challenge, bring it on”. Earning a few smirks from the former Slytherins.

The pairs had been made, Ron and Blaise, Harry and Neville, Draco and Theo, Hermione and Daphne, Pansy and Traci, the Patil twins paired together, and finally, Susan was with Hannah.

Professor Flitwick made his way to their group and started by altering Hermione’s robes. The Gryffindor red and gold changed to a deep purple and silver, and the house emblem changed to an intricate ‘H’ placed over a dragon. Hermione assumed they were using the Hogwarts crest as influence and overall, she was pleased with the new robes.

Once everyone was sporting purple and silver robes – much to Pansy’s chagrin ‘PURPLE!, PURPLE! HAVE YOU SEEN MY COMPLEXION?’ Professor Flitwick asked them of one small favour. “The war was hard on everyone, and there is much animosity between the houses, the headmistress and I request that you show a united front. Show the younger students that they cannot judge each other by the actions of their parents, their surname, or the house they call family. Show them you can forgive and move on – and if that is too hard for you to manage, please, at least be civil. Now lets get you all to the great hall before the sorting commences”.

The ride to Hogwarts was filled with silence, each person considering the professor’s words and wondering how the year ahead would play out. As the small group left the thestral drawn carriages, Hermione has a bout of nostalgia. She remembered Harry and Luna discussing them 5th year, she hadn’t been able to see them then, and while her curious side appreciated the knowledge, she knew her innocence was gone forever. She had witnessed far too much death.

Walking into the great hall, it was filled with all students except the first years who were being watched over by Hagrid in the entrance hall. Professor Flitwick led them to an additional table at the back of the hall, running horizontally, parallel to the head table on the opposite side of the room so that half of them would have their backs to the head table. The table was about a quarter the size of the other four house tables and was adorned by a purple and silver table runner just as the other houses had table runners of their own colours.

Taking her seat facing the Heads table, Hermione’s eyes caught those of professor McGonogall, who nodded her head slightly to acknowledge her former charge before addressing the student body. The first years were led in and sorted quickly – the group was smaller than usual, instead of 8-10 students per house, this year there was about 5 or 6 and only four in Slytherin. The usual announcements were made, the forbidden forest is forbidden, bullying is not accepted and your house will be your home ‘Blah Blah Blah’ Hermione thought. The new professors were introduced. Professor Flitwick was the new deputy Headmaster as well as the Ravenclaw head of house, Professor Sinistra was the new Gryffindor Head and astronomy teacher, Professor Slughorn was the Head of Slytherin and would be teaching potions for those in first to third years – which was odd as there were no other potions masters at the head table, Professor Vector was taking over as head of Hufflepuff after Sprout decided she would retire after one year showing her the ropes, and then they were surprised to find Bill Weasley introduced as the new DADA professor – ‘he sure kept that quiet’ Hermione supposed. Ron was groaning “I should have gone to work with George, I’m already regretting this decision”.

After the feast, the group of fourteen were led by the Headmistress to their new quarters on the seventh floor. Harry was the first to realise exactly where they were “Headmistress, I thought the room of requirement was destroyed in the battle?”

“Very observant mister Potter, alas the room repaired itself and appeared as you see it now and could not be changed. Upon entering and searching the room, I found a note explaining that this was the Albus Wulferic common room for 8th years” McGonogall answered.

Continuing on to the group at large “You will find all dorm rooms on the second floor, each with their own bath chamber. Your names will be on the door and your belongings have already been placed inside. As you can see in front of you, this is your common room you have a lounge area, dining area and study area. The kitchenette is for you to use as you please though I expect you all to attend meals in the great hall throughout the week. The fireplace is connected to the floo-network and will be opened on weekends under the name ‘Albus Wulferic Common Room’. You will receive class schedules on Friday giving you tomorrow to settle in and unpack. Class begins on Monday” she concluded, leaving the way she came.

Looking around, Hermione assessed the common room. There was a greyish wood for the flooring with dark grey walls. The couches were a soft grey and covered in differing shades of purple. The coffee table and dining table were of a black wood and the back wall under the twin wrought iron staircases was a complete floor to ceiling window overlooking the quidditch pitch. The dining table was huge with fourteen seats, clearly Professor Flitwick was serious about the house unity thing. Making her way upstairs, Hermione and Daphne’s room was smack-bang in the middle with the three other female dorms to the left and the three male dorms to the right.

“Oh we are right next door, fantastic!” Pansy noted entering her room with Tracy on her heels, beside them Were Susan and Hannah and the Patil twins at the end. Turning to see where the boys were, Hermione was relieved to see Ron and Blaise at the far right, she wouldn’t have to hear any unfortunate encounters they might have of the female persuasion. Unfortunately, Harry and Neville weren’t so lucky. “Oi Malfoy, Nott, swap rooms with us yeah? We don’t want our girlfriends having to listen to these two gits” Harry urged. “Not a chance Potter, are you a wizard or not? use a silencing charm!” Theo was clearly getting too much enjoyment looking at the sour faces of Harry and Neville. Smiling to herself, Hermione joined Daphne in their dorm.

“What’s got you grinning like a loon?” Daphne questioned her. “I’m not grinning like a loon! But if you must know, it seems I wasn’t the only one glad Ron and Blaise were placed at the end of the hall” at this point she looked up, the dorm was a decent size. It seemed they each had a ‘side’ of the room with a bed and bedside table, the headboards at the opposite ends to the door with a floor to ceiling window between them, a study desk and chair at the end of their bed and then a decent sized closet each on the same wall as the door, though one of the closets wrapped around the corner and met the desk effectively doubling its size and the other had a door presumably leading to the bathroom.

“I took the side with a bigger closet, I hope you don’t mind. If you need any extra space just let me know and you can use some of mine” Daphne offered, she knew full well Hermione wouldn’t need the extra space and was just being polite, but it didn’t bother Hermione, she wasn’t a huge shopper like Daph, though it may have just been her lack of funds and could probably change now that she had her order of Merlin payment in Gringotts. “Its no problem Daph, but are you sure you’ll have enough space? I’m pretty handy with undetectable extension charms, let me know if you need one”.

The dorm rooms followed the same theme as the common room. Soft grey for carpets, headboards on the bed and wingback desk chairs. Black study desk and bedside table and white bedding with a purple trow rug and cushions. Quite feminine and pretty really, leaving Hermione to wonder how the boys felt about the colour scheme.

Deciding she needed to wash off the travel grime, Hermione grabbed her toiletries and headed for the shower. She was just through washing her hair when Daphne popped her head in “Hey do you mind if I use the sink and mirror? I want to remove my makeup before bed”

“Yeah that’s fine, the glass is frosted so you won’t get a fright” Hermione joked. It was nice having a girlfriend she trusted and felt comfortable with. She never felt at home in her old dorm room, and was never close to her dorm-mates. Lavender and Parvati were close and had the kind of relationship Hermione now shared with Daphne, Ginny and Luna. It must have been devastating for Parvati to lose Lavender to the war, she couldn’t imagine losing the girls she called her best friends.

“Hey Mia,” Daphne hesitantly started, “What do you think of Pansy and Tracy? Do you think you could ever be as close to them as you are to me?”

“I’m not sure Daph, I don’t really know them. They seem nice enough now that they aren’t being forced to act a certain way, but I guess only time will tell. I trust your judgement though and I am willing to give them a chance” Hermione determined.

“That’s all I ask Mia, for the longest time it was just the three of us relying on each other, and occasionally Millie, though she preferred the company of the boys. The friendship I’ve received from Ginny, Luna and you has had such a profound effect on my disposition and I feel like it would do the same for them. We never had much to look forward to, yes we had money and status, but we also had the threat of marriage contracts and our parents in our ears telling us we could only ever be housewives and bare heirs for our husbands”. Daphne was pensive, obviously stuck down memory lane so Hermione decided she would be friends with Pansy and Tracy, she would help them realise their potentials too.

Climbing into bed, both in the silk pyjamas Daphne had bought their foursome on a shopping trip, Daphne’s in silver, Luna’s in blue, Ginny’s in black and Hermione’s in a soft blush, the girls said goodnight, tomorrow would be a day to catch up with the others and settle back into the place she had called home for so many years. Hermione just hoped she wouldn’t have her usual nightmares. Her last coherent thought before drifting off was whether she put up her silencing wards, but she was asleep before she could determine the answer.


	3. Fairy wine night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I noticed a few little spelling and grammatical errors in the first chapter - now all fixed. If you notice any, please let me know. It's so easy to miss them when proof-reading your own work.

She didn’t.

The nightmares definitely came and everyone heard her screams. Jolting awake, Hermione first saw Harry’s comforting face. She leapt into his lap, sobbing into his neck while he tried calming her with a tight embrace and one hand holding her head to his shoulder “its ok Mione, you’re safe, I’m here and I wont let anything hurt you” Harry repeated while shushing her and rocking slightly as if comforting a child. After what felt like only a few seconds but was in reality about 3 minutes, Hermione heard Blaise’s voice “what the hell is wrong with her?”

“Fuck up you snake, she has nightmares after fighting in the war. Not everyone had the option to stay neutral” Ron seethed.

Looking up, Hermione saw Daphne, Pansy and Tracy wrapped around each other while sitting on Daphne’s bed. They each had tears in their eyes, though Daphne’s had spilled over to her cheeks. “I’m sorry Mia! I didn’t know whether to wake you up, you were thrashing and you sounded like you were in pain. By the time I decided to get Harry or Ron, they were already barging in”.

“it’s not your fault Daph, I have them most nights, I just forgot to silence my bed. I didn’t mean to wake you all” Hermione looked down ashamed.

“Wake me! Hermione, I want you to wake me! You’re one of my best friends and I want to be there for you” Daphne raised off her bed untangling herself from the other girls and sitting herself next to Harry. Raising her arms she enveloped Hermione just as Harry had, it only took a second for Hermione to embrace her back.

A quiet and hesitant voice broke the silence. “what are your nightmares about Granger?” Raising her head to face Malfoy who had spoken, she just shook her head, she noticed he was standing in the room with Nott and Ron, just outside the door she could see the others peering in, all with worried looks on their faces. She didn’t want their sympathy, she didn’t want them to see her at her weakest. But she was too shaken to answer. How does one tell another, who they promised to give a second chance, that they had a feature role in your worst nightmare? How could she tell him that his family home was the place of her nightmares? How could she explain that her dreams were so vivid she swore she could feel Bellatrix’s warm breath on her ear, weight on her chest, and knife carving her flesh? She couldn’t, but Ron could.

“What do you fucking think they’re about Malfoy. SHE RELIVES BEING TORTURED BY YOUR FUCKING AUNT EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, SHE RELIVES THE MOMENT HARRY AND I COULDN’T SAVE HER BECAUSE WE WERE LOCKED IN YOUR DUNGEON. AND YOU JUST STOOD THERE LIKE THE POMPOS ARSE YOU ARE WATCHING HER PAIN. YOURE A COWARD AND YOU HAVE NO RIGHT PRETENDING YOU CARE ABOUT HOW SHES SUFFERING”

The tension in the room had risen to the point Hermione’s skin felt cold and the hairs on the back of her neck had raised, Harry’s chest rumbled as he spoke. “That’s enough Ron”.

Malfoy’s shoulders slumped and he made his way out of the room apologising under his breath. The faint click of his door closing could be heard before Theodore said his piece. “You should know that he has them too. The guilt from that night eats at him, he just never forgets a silencing charm”. Theo left the room in much the same way as Malfoy, though he knocked Ron with his shoulder as he passed.

“Mione, can you go back to sleep? Do you want Ron or me to stay with you tonight?” Harry inquired loosening his grip and placing his hands on her shoulders.

“I’ll stay with her Harry” Daphne offered receiving a nod from Harry as he shifted Hermione off his lap and stood. He turned back to Daphne ready to speak when she cut in- “Don’t worry, I’ll come to you straight away if she needs anything”. With a nod, he headed back to his own room, Ron following after him and shutting the door. Footsteps could be heard as the others headed back to their beds.

“Scoot over Mia”. Daphne climbed into Hermione’s bed laying on her side so she could see her face, “You’ll get through this, we’ll do it together”

Hermione was up with the sun, she managed about 2 hours sleep after the incident from the night before, slowly wiggling out of the bed as to not wake Daphne, she made her way to the bath. She set the water to a heat just warmer than comfortable and added her vanilla scented bubbles. While the pain was only in her dreams, her muscles felt used and abused. Her legs were still lightly cramping and her abdomen felt as though she’d done a hundred sit-ups the day before. The memories of her time under the cruciatus curse made her body contract in the hopes of shielding itself from the inevitable pain but the relief from the hot water was almost instantaneous. Sitting in the warm water was one of the only ways she could get herself to relax without a potion, she always used Vanilla bubble bath or body wash and it had become a comfort to her, the scent easing her worries and letting the water wash them completely away.

The water started to become a little to cold to be comfortable before Hermione decided to get out, her fingers and toes were well and truly pruned even though she couldn’t have been in the bath more than 25 minutes. Towelling herself off, she cast a tempus and realised she had been soaking for an hour and a half! ‘Shit, what if Daph needed to use the bathroom’ she wondered, while hurriedly slathering Sleezkies Hair Serum through her wild mane and spelling it brushed and dried. She usually hated using spells on her hair as it always made her hair a little frizzy, but it was becoming less of an issue as her body matured. She still had a slight frizz but her hair now fell in long ringlets down to her waist and the bland chestnut colour was streaked with blonde and surprisingly, a ginger-red undertone from her time in the sun. Leaving her hair loose, she made her way back into the bedroom.

Daphne was nowhere to be seen, it was only 8am and with no classes today she doubted everyone would have headed down to breakfast already. Pulling on her faded denim jeans, converse and a forest green sweater, Hermione headed for the common room. She was awkward and embarrassed about the night before but was trying to treat it like you would a band-aid. Rip it off and move on.

As expected, Harry, Ron and Neville were nowhere to be seen. The average Gryffindor male didn’t rise before 9.30 unless there was a class or quidditch practice. Hermione made her way over to Tracy in the kitchenette to make her morning Tea, nodding in greeting.

“Morning Hermione! Feeling any better this morning?”

“Morning Tracy, Yeah much better, I soaked in the bath for over an hour so I really cant complain about how my morning is panning out” Hermione huffed with a little laugh.

“I know, Daph came in to use our shower, she and Pans are just finishing their hair and makeup”.

“Oh crap! I’m so sorry, time just got away from me”. ‘damn’ she thought, ‘worst. Dormmate. EVER.’

“It’s no problem, we are used to sharing and you shouldn’t apologise for needing a little time to yourself. We all do from time to time”.

Together they walked to the dining table to join Hannah and Susan. “Morning” they said in unison as they sat down. They were greeted with twin smiles in return when Hannah spoke.

“Hermione, about last night, maybe you should talk to Madam Pomfrey… A few of us have regular nightmares and she is considering bringing in a mind healer to talk to those who need it. I don’t mean to pry, or push you into something you’re not comfortable with, but..”

“You’re not alone Hermione” Susan added “I’ll be speaking to someone if the opportunity arises”

“Speaking to who about what?” Pansy plopped down in the seat beside Hermione.

“A mind healer, someone to talk to about the war if we aren’t coping” Tracy advised.

“That is a fantastic idea! We could all benefit from talking to someone, what do you think Mia?”

Hermione looked towards Daphne unsure of how to answer. How were they all so blasé about reliving such a difficult time? She understood the puffs would be ok with it, but the Slytherin girls? Personally, she wasn’t sure. “To be honest, I don’t know how I would feel about opening up to a stranger, I think I would prefer just talking to friends about it. Even then, I don’t actually want to talk about it – the war doesn’t really hold happy memories for me”.

“Hermione, I know we aren’t close like you are with Ginny or Luna, or even Daphne, but we want to be there for you. If you need someone to speak to, Pansy and I would be honoured for you to consider us friends” Tracy placed her hand over Hermione’s, showing her she was genuine.

“Us too Hermione, we are always here if you need to chat” Hannah added, gesturing between herself and Susan.

Hearing a snort from behind them, the ladies turned to see Padma and Parvati walking to the door with linked arms, “Pathetic how they can just forgive the snakes after years of torment” one was heard saying to the other as they passed through the portrait hole. Hermione was shocked at the blatant rudeness. She didn’t know the twins overly well, but had roomed with Parvati for years and had never known her to be quite so impolite.

“Well, cant win ‘em all” Pansy drawled looking at her perfectly manicured nailbeds.

Before the portrait had a chance to close, Ginny made her way inside. In a tone way too happy and way too loud for this time of morning “Morning all! Don’t mind me, just making sure my sexy man gets a nice wakeup call”. Grinning she added “which is his room?”

“Second on the right” Hermione noted as Ginny started making her way up the stairs .

“Oh hell. I need coffee to deal with this shit” Pansy muttered standing and heading to the kitchenette. When there was a loud squeal and a thump.

“what the hell are you doing Weaslette?” Nott bellowed. “Get out of my bed”.

“She counted the middle door as door one” Tracy giggled, the others joining her.

“I meant from the wall Gin, not the middle” Hermione yelled up.

“No problem Mione! I’ve always wondered what Nott and Malfoy looked like half naked. Now I know” The joy and laughter in Ginny’s voice could be heard without even seeing her face “Second times’ a charm” she littled, opening another door.

“Damn Gryffindor” Nott was muttering on his way downstairs. Heading straight for the kitchenette and making his coffee, he didn’t even notice the group of six girls staring at him mouths agape.

“Holy shit Theo, you got hot!” Pansy stated matter of fact. “When did you get a six pack?”.

“More like ‘when did he become tall, dark and handsome” Tracy muttered under her breath. “Bet you’re happy about the betrothal contract now Daph” She added with a giggle.

With a slight blush to his cheeks and a glance to Daphne that Hermione was sure everyone but herself missed. He mumbled something under his breath and hurried back to his room, two matching coffees in hand.

“Thanks Pans and Trace,” Daphne admonished, “you embarrassed him! He never leaves his room or lets people see him until he’s fully dressed and you know it, he probably didn’t even realise we were up as the boys are usually awake way before us” Daphne sighed, she clearly enjoyed what she saw anyway. “anyways, Drake has the same training schedule as him Pans, are you happy with your betrothal contract now?”

“oh, yeah I guess” Pansy mumbled looking down at her hands as she cupped her coffee.

“You guys have betrothal contracts? How did I not know this” Hermione questioned, the surprise and slight hurt evident on her features. She had no reason to be hurt, not really. Daphne and herself hadn’t been friends that long regardless of how close she felt to the girl, and future weddings hadn’t really come up

“It’s not really something we talk about, we aren’t happy about being forced to marry someone we don’t love, but it could be so much worse”

“Daph’s right, we are just lucky they are our friends and we know they wouldn’t hurt us. We could have been married off to an old guy or someone who beats women, as long as they’re sacred 28 purebloods, I know my parents wouldn’t have given a shit” Pansy added a little sourly.

“Why don’t you just you know, NOT MARRY THEM. Surely your parents can’t force you” Hermione suggested.

“That’s not how it works Hermione” Susan’s voice was gentle, and she wasn’t judging Hermione for her view, or lack of knowledge. “Its actually really common, my aunt Amelia is currently in talks with Madam Longbottom and Mr Abbott regarding a contract between Neville, Hannah and I, we were just lucky to have any say. I’m glad I could date him on my own terms before the offer was made”

“Wait, you’re all getting married? How is that possible? Marriage is between two people, not three” Hermione was becoming confused. Hogwarts really needed a class for all this, how was she so clueless.

“Usually it is, but if the participants in the marriage are all the last of their line, the rules change a little. Basically Neville being scion Longbottom will eventually become head of his house, and the last living member. He will need to produce an heir to carry on the Longbottom line. This means, he is eligible to have a wife, and a consort, or secondary wife to ensure a male heir is produced. Hannah will be Neville’s wife as her family do not require her to produce a male heir, she will take the title of Mrs Neville Longbottom or Lady Longbottom, and I will be his consort, or second wife. I am the last of the Bones line so I will keep my name and after producing a male heir for house Longbottom, my second son can take the name Bones and continue my family line” Susan looked to Hermione to make sure she understood.

“I guess that makes sense” Hermione understood the reasoning at least “but are you both ok with that? Sharing a husband I mean? And will you be married to each other or just Neville?

“It was actually our idea, Neville took a bit of convincing. We are definitely ok with it, and whether we too will be married is something we need to discuss with Neville, we are simply best friends and our relationship isn’t sexual, but if it makes Neville more comfortable, we wouldn’t be opposed to it, consummating the marriage may be a little awkward but at least we have each other for support” Hannah looked contemplatively to Susan, who just smiled at her best friend.

As the conversation continued around her, Hermione was contemplating the new information she had learned about the wizarding world. How much more could she possibly not know? She hated feeling like this. She was the only muggle-born student in 8th year and the only Half-bloods were Tracy and Harry. Tracy was raised with her pureblood father and knew everything expected of a pureblood daughter. At least Harry was muggle raised and she wasn’t alone in her seeming naivety of wizarding culture. She’d just have to read up on it. Surely there would be books on wizarding culture and customs in the library.

Hearing a ruckus on the landing, Hermione noticed everyone making their way downstairs dressed and ready for the day. Well everyone except Harry and Ginny, and by the blush on Neville’s cheeks, she could only imagine where they were and what they were doing. Making his way over to Hannah and Susan, Neville greeted everyone and then asked if they would like to join him and head down to the great hall. Standing to follow and heading toward the portrait, Blaise’s voice halted them.

“Hey so I was thinking tonight, all us 8th years can meet here at about 5 for a few drinks. I think we should all get to know one another seeing as we will be so close for the next year”

Looking around, everyone was nodding and responding in the affirmative. “Ok whoever sees Harry today, just let him know” Said Neville. “I’m avoiding my room until as late as possible” a slight grimace marring his features before turning and leading Hannah and Susan through the portrait hole.

The Day passed quickly after breakfast. Hermione went to the library to check out books on wizarding culture, marriages, triadic relationships and soul bonding. The last really want relevant to her research but it looked interesting none-the-less. After lunch she joined Harry and Ron to visit Hagrid and then Bill, who took the brunt of Ron’s temper tantrum with being unaware his brother would be his professor. When the argument had finally ebbed, Hermione had questioned why he was the DADA professor and not taking Ancient Runes, he was a curse-breaker after all. Apparently the answer was simple, they couldn’t find a DADA teacher and Fleur wanted him home more so he took the position with Headmistress McGonnogall allowing him to floo home to shell cottage around classes. Before long it was 4.30 and the trio decided to make their way back up to the seventh floor for the ‘bonding’ session Blaise had planned.

The common room had been rearranged just for the event and there were nibbles and an assortment of alcoholic beverages on the coffee tables. Blaise had really put in some effort and Hermione was silently impressed. The three couches surrounding the fire-place and the two by the window had all been rearranged to form a somewhat triangle shape where everyone could see each other with coffee tables in the centre holding the food and drink and the 8thyears were starting to fill the couches. Blaise, Malfoy and Nott had taken the longer couch at the base of the triangle with Hannah, Neville and Susan Were squished on the two seater just next to them. Neville with a slight grin and a healthy blush on his cheeks at having the two women so close. Harry took the space next to them on the other two seater and Ron following him. Pansy, Tracy and Daphne sat in three of the four seats left leaving a space between Daphne and Theodore for Hermione.

“The twins didn’t decide to grace us with their presence?” Pansy sneered. More than a little miffed at the twins less than stellar attitudes.

“Nah apparently they have plans, though neither could tell me what they were” Blaise explained.

“Don’t worry, they’ll come around” Hannah always had a positive outlook on animosity, but Hermione wasn’t sure she agreed this time around. Shed roomed with Parvati for 6 years and the girl could hold a grudge like no other, and the stories Luna had shared about Padma proved she was of a similar mindset. Padma believed that everyone had to fit into a box, and if you couldn’t be placed in one then there was something wrong with you. It had been the source of her bullying towards Luna for years.

Blaise began to talk to the group at large “Ok so there’s snacks and alcohol in front of you, help yourselves, its compliments of the two rich gits to my left” Gesturing to Malfoy and Nott. “My idea for the night was this, we go around the circle and share one secret about ourselves that no one else knows. Everyone in?”

Searching the circle, everyone was nodding and smiling obviously excited to have a little fun. Most already had half empty glasses in their hands.

“Ok so the rules are as follows” Blaise continued, “You cannot make people feel bad about their secret, no negative judgements allowed - we are here to support each other and have a laugh. Second, if more than one other person in the circle knows your secret it doesn’t count and cant be used. And as a gift from me to you all, Toadstool whiskey”. The shit eating grin on his face made more than one person nervous.

“What’s toadstool Whiskey and why are you smiling like the Cheshire cat?” Hermione questioned. If it was anything like the fairy wine Daphne provided on what was now dubbed ‘fairy wine night’ this could either be really fun, or, end terribly.

“Remember fairy wine night Mia?” Of course she remembered, how could she forget? One of the most fun nights of her life, but also one she blushed like crazy remembering. The blush didn’t go un-noticed by the males of the group either, the curiosity radiating off of them was palpable “Well toadstool whiskey is basically the whiskey version and it’s a little stronger. Once you have a shot, one of your deepest secrets will just come out.” The smirk Daphne sported just intrigued the others more.

“What happened on fairy wine night?” Of course Blaise would just flat out ask.

Hermione had no intention to answer, but Daphne just laughed heartily and added “Well that’s for only the two of us to know and you to find out, probably on my turn”.

Pouring 12 shot glasses and levitating the tray around the group, Blaise decided that the gentlemanly thing to do would be to let the ladies start and move around the group. Seeing as Hannah and Susan were away from the other girls they were passed over and the honour went to Pansy.

“Any specific topic in mind game-master?” she smirked at Blaise, but he just shook his head with a laugh.

“Alrighty then”. Pansy took her shot and waited about 10 seconds for the urge to spill a secret and then blurted “Ron’s pretty hot when he doesn’t open his mouth” her hand slapped against her mouth in shock “Oh God, Kill me now”

The women were laughing their arses off while the men looked either shocked or disgusted. Ron was beaming with pride though.

“You’re not so bad yourself Parkinson, you know where my room is if you get lonely”

“Fuck off Weasley, in your dreams. Alright Trace, your turn, and for the love of merlin, hurry PLEASE”.

“okie doke” Tracy took her shot in two sips, clearly not liking the taste. “The hat wanted to put me in Hufflepuff but I begged to be put in Slytherin”.

“I KNEW IT” Pansy shouted while Daphne drawled “well obviously”.

“Alright Daph your turn” Hermione cringed, the secret of fairy wine night was about to be not so secret, and having Harry and Ron there made it worse. Harry probably already knew from Ginny, but Ron was an unknown in the equation.

Daphne drank her shot much the same way as Tracy. “Sorry about this Mia” She didn’t look sorry at all, but there was a slight hesitation in her eyes. Hermione buried her face in her hands and gave a single nod. ‘Rip off the bandaid’ she reminded herself.

“On fairy wine night Ginny taught Hermione and I how to pleasure other women, apparently you cant knock it till you try it” Daphne was laughing to herself at the memory of Ginny speaking those words. Hermione had to hold back a giggle too. Ginny was adamant that it was normal and heaps of friends did it. As it turned out, it wasn’t either Hermione or Daphne’s preference but it made for a funny night.

“well that explains a lot” Harry simply stated.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT EXPLAINS A LOT? YOUR GIRLFRIEND WATCHED MY GIRLFRIEND GET ANOTHER GIRL OFF AND YOURE OK WITH THAT?” Yep, Ron had lost it. His face was an odd purple colour and the veins in his neck were protruding slightly.

“First of all Ron, Hermione is not your girlfriend, she tried snogging you for two weeks and refused to continue, second, my relationship with Ginny is not your concern. I went into this relationship knowing my partner was bisexual and would occasionally want the company of other women, she’s liked Hermione for years and until she can convince her to a threesome with us, I don’t think she will lay off” then Harry turned to Hermione “not that we would care if you just said no, you know what Gin is like when she gets an idea in her head”.

Hermione nodded at Harry and then finally looked around the group. All the girls were smiling, a little tipsy but not really concerned with Daphne’s revelation. Ron looked like a plum, clearly losing his mind, Harry looked like nothing had happened and Neville was so red he looked as if he would pass out any second. The real surprise was with the ex Slytherins. Malfoy and Nott had yet to close their mouths, looking at Hermione like she had sprouted a second head, and Blaise, well he just looked predatory. The smirk hadn’t changed but his eyes had dilated and grown impossibly darker.

“Any chance of a demonstration?” His voice was like silk, it didn’t surprise Hermione that he had no troubles with women. If he spoke like that, no wonder panties dropped around him. The attractive boy knew it too.

“Ok my turn” Hermione desperately needed to change the subject. Sniffing her shot and wincing slightly Hermione psyched herself up and took the shot in one mouthful. The effects were instantaneous.

“I found out about 4 months ago that I was adopted and don’t know who my parents are. I want to find out but I’m terrified” Looking up from her hands everyone was just staring at her, unsure how to respond.

“Mione, why didn’t you tell us?” Harry said gesturing between Ron and Himself, “Or Ginny, Luna, Daphne even Molly? You’ve been dealing with this alone?”

“I didn’t know what to say, its not a big deal really, they raised me so they will always be mum and dad to me”

“Not a big deal? Hermione, if you don’t know who your parents are, you could end up marrying your cousin or brother!” Pansy was mortified and looked slightly ill at the idea.

“I wouldn’t even know where to look, my birth certificate just said Jane and John Doe which is basically what the muggle administration officers put down if no one knows where you came from”.

“I can ask my Gran to look into it Hermione, she’s on the Wizengamont. Or I’m sure Malfoys dad can check up on it, he may be on probation but he is still head of the board of Governors” Neville had a look of sympathy- he understood having never really known his parents outside of the shells they lay in at St Mungos.

“I’ll think about it ok?” Hermione offered hesitantly. “Thanks for the offer”.

Looking to Theo, she gestured to take his turn. He downed the shot like water, Hermione figured he must have played this game before. “My betrothal contract with Daphne was declined because my mother made one with her best friend before she died and while my intended is thought to have passed as an infant, there was no proof”

Gasps of shock were heard around the room, but this was not news to Daphne, they had obviously agreed to keep it between themselves. Pansy and Malfoy shared a look that most others missed. Hermione couldn’t decide if they each knew or were pissed they weren’t told.

“Clarify Theo.” Malfoy ordered softly

“Well basically when m mother was 18, she wrote up a betrothal contract with her best friend Marlene Mckinnon that in the instance they gave birth to children of different sexes, they would be married within two months of graduation. Marlene was due to give birth to a daughter like a month after mum was due to give birth to me but she just vanished for over two years and then her whole family died in the first war. Problem was, there was no evidence of a child there so its unknown whether the baby died or was taken. With no record of death, the contract still stands. Basically unless the McKinnon heir becomes known, I’ll be able to marry after the set date of the contract. So the mystery woman needs to stay hidden for 13 more months and I’ll be free to marry who I want”

“Holy shit” Neville cursed in a most un-Neville like manner.

Pansy took that moment to speak up “We had the same problem but wanted to keep it quiet”.

Malfoy nodded at Nott’s curious look. “Ours got knocked back for exactly the same reason though the contract was made before my mother was even pregnant. I’m supposed to marry the Travers heir. Apparently the Travers family are much like the Malfoys and the Notts. Its very rare for our families to produce a female heir so when Father found out Travers’ wife was having a daughter, he secured a contract. He was most pleased with a sacred 28 line we had never shared a marriage with before. The story is basically the same after that”.

Daphne was confused “That’s not possible”.

“What do you mean?” Malfoy asked.

“Well Thomas Travers, was married to Marlene McKinnon. It is well know that he was the Death Eater who slaughtered her family and I guess the rumours are true about him killing her for hiding their child, but how can you both have contracts with the same daughter?”

“Would this be like a husband and consort thing like Neville, Hannah and Susan?” Hermione questioned.

“I’m not sure” Daphne was clearly in deep thought. “I’ve never heard of a witch having a Husband and consort as she is giving birth to the children but I’ve heard of triad relationships and marriages with two wizards…I’d have to research it”

Moving on with the game, Malfoy took his shot. “I’ve been in love with the same two people since fourth year, and no, I’m not elaborating. Blaise?”

From there, the night got messy, Blaise had slept with some of his mother’s friends, Hannah and Susan regularly went to muggle clubs, Neville lost his Virginity in greenhouse 3, Harry and Ginny enjoyed roleplay and Ron was still a virgin- the last one she knew but only in theory. By the end of the night, Hermione and Daphne had passed out spooning on their two seater, completely oblivious to the conversations going on around them.

Susan and Hannah were the first to head to bed, followed closely by Neville and Harry who yelled a communal “Night”.

Malfoy and Nott were discussing the ramifications of the night’s revelations. Deciding they would owl their fathers to see what their options were. Neither were upset with the knowledge they had gained, they had been best friends for years and if they each had to be in this situation, they would prefer it was with each other. Both could admit to each other that while their relationship wasn’t of a sexual nature, they were intimate in the fact that they confided in the other in times of need and had a deep love and affection between them. The idea of sharing a witch was actually quite appealing to them both. Maybe the McKinnon/Travers heir showing up wouldn’t be a bad thing.

On the other side of the room Pansy and Tracy were discussing Hermione’s secret, or was it Daphne’s? they were too drunk to recall, “Who would have thought Gryffindor’s resident swat had such a wild streak?” Giggling, she headed to bed, Tracy following behind her.

Noticing that the common room had cleared out, Theo motioned to the sleeping witches on the couch. “Do we leave them here or move them up to their beds?”

“Beds, Daph will bitch if she sleeps on a couch all night”

“shame they aren’t in their matching pjs again, quite liked the view” Theo wiggled his eyebrows.

With a grunt of agreeance, Malfoy lifted Hermione off the couch and made his way to her room. Watching his back, Theo contemplated their discussion, it was a shame that they both had betrothal contracts, but it was also a shame that the one with Daphne didn’t work out. If he had the chance, he would have pursued his friend in a more romantic way but now, he was in a state of unknown, at least Daph was the devil he knew. They could have had a kid and then let each other pursue love on the side, who knows what the McKinnon heir would be like.

Lifting Daphne and following Draco, Theo offered Daphne a silent apology, hoping that the wizard she did end up with treated her right. She deserved nothing less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is a bit of a filler but I'm almost done so the wait shouldn't be too long!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has left Kudos and comments, I'm super grateful :)


	4. "I'm never drinking again"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so this was the filler chapter I was talking about at the end of the last chapter, It's only a little one, just over 1800 words, but its all caught up now and my postings will be a little more spread out.

Waking with a moan, Hermione realised she may have drunk a little too much. “I am never drinking again”

“shut up, also, you said that last time” Daphne whimpered from her bed. Looking at the blonde witch, Hermione would have laughed if she wasn’t so hung over. It was one of those rare moments Daphne looked less than perfect. With her head half hanging off the side of her bed and drool pooling on the mattress, she looked hilarious. “Erg” Daphne mumbled, “I think my brain is bleeding”.

“With the drool on your mattress, I think it might be”

“DIP! Daphne stage whispered. The elf’s ‘crack’ upon arrival bought tears to the girls’ eyes. “We need hangover potion…please”

“Yes missy Daphne miss” Dip popped out and in so quickly that Hermione didn’t even see her leave, but that may just have been the hangover fog.

Handing over two Hangover Potions, Dip said she would be back with vitamix and rehydration potions in five minutes. Hermione greedily guzzled her potion while Daphne sipped hers over a conjured bucket.

“Are you paying her yet? She’s a god send” Hermione was feeling better already and was secretly wishing she had her own elf for moments like these. Her own PAID, FREE elf that is.

“No, and I’ll thank you to never give me advise regarding elves again. She cried for 3 hours, THREE! Hermione. All I did was ask if she wanted payment and somehow her crying had me agreeing to using her assistance more often so she feels worthy of serving me. I don’t even know how it happened and I completely blame you”.

As Dip popped back she handed Daphne her vitamix and rehydration potions before turning to Hermione “Missy Hermy heres you goes. I will be in yous commons making a healthy breakfast for the missys and yous to bes down in ten minutes or I’s be back to get yous”. She then disapparated with a much more subdued ‘crack’.

“See! You’ve made me create a monster Mia! She already bossed me around being my nanny elf, but now she monitors my diet!” Daphne complained.

“Ok, I’m sorry, but I noticed her pretty dress, you made progress!” Seeing Daphne’s scowl, Hermione gulped. “Anyway, we should shower before your elf unleashes her wrath on me”.

After showering, the girls made their way downstairs to see Dip arguing with another house elf, in a dress much the same as Dip’s but a deep green with silver beading rather than sunshine yellow.

“Dip, what’s going on here” Daphne questioned.

“Missy Daphne miss, Sipsy bes trying to cook breakfast for the young mistresses and masters buts I bes here to cooks before Sipsy” The little elf looked on the verge of tears, wringing a tea-towel in her hands. “Please tells Sipsy she can cook for her Master when I’s finished”.

“Why don’t you cook together? There are fourteen people who need breakfast and we would all appreciate some of your yummy cooking as well as tea and coffee. If you think you can manage getting more vitamix and rehydration potion we would be forever grateful, we cant get any without your help”. Hermione was a quick study and knew that playing on their need for the elves would win favour. Judging by their side glances to each other, she figured it had worked too.

“Sipsy will gather potions while Dip starts breakfast. Sipsy will then make tea and coffee for Master and his friends” Sipsy left no room for negotiating before disapparating.

“Damn Granger!” Theo’s voice called from behind her. “Sipsy is my elf, she’s been in our family for about ninety years and I think you’re the first muggle born she has ever listened to.  She wouldn’t even bring Tracy tea last year because she was taught to only serve those of pure blood by my grandfather”.

Hermione wasn’t sure what to make of Theo’s statement, ignoring it all together she asked “Why is your elf so well spoken? I’ve not heard anything like it. Not many wizarding families take the time to properly educate their elves”.

“Well I wanted to keep her safe last year, so I ordered her to study English at our French villa” shrugging he added “Like most purebloods, I was raised by my nanny elf, she’s my family”.

At that moment, Sipsy arrived back with the potions and placed them at the dining table as she set it for the 8th years. Hermione didn’t miss the regular knowing glances the elf sent her way but had no logical explanation other than the elf being aware of her S.P.E.W days and being overly cautious of her. In all honesty, Hermione regretted S.P.E.W. She based her knowledge on the treatment of Dobby, which was apparently a rare occurrence. She had been unaware of the fact that an elf would lose their magic if not bound to a wizard or house line and realised why they were so terrified of her all those years ago.

Noticing that the dining table was filling, Hermione took her seat between Harry and Pansy, both grateful for the potions placed in front of them, the only ‘chipper’ person was Blaise, the git. He drunk more than anyone, how the hell was he so… so functioning? Hermione mused.

“I vote we make bonding night a tradition!” He declared “Second and Last Friday of every month, we will get together and ‘bond’”.

While most of the group nodded at the idea, Hermione didn’t see how that was possible.

“You do realise it’s NEWT year right? We have studying to do, and our course load will be astronomical”

“Granger, you’ll survive not studying for two nights a month” Zabini looked at her like she was daft. “Having a night off will probably do you good”

“He’s right Mione” Ron added. “You study way too hard, everyone thinks you’re bonkers come exam time”

“And yet you have no problem begging me to do your work on top of my own” Hermione muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes, Ron could be so selfish at times and never saw his own faults yet had no issues noting the faults of others.

“Well we won’t be joining you” Padma deadpanned. “Parvarti and I have decided to transfer, we don’t feel safe with the new living arrangements and will be leaving today”

“Are you shitting me?” Pansy’s voice was shrill with anger. “And why pray tell do you not feel safe?” It was obvious Pansy felt the answer had something to do with her.

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist Parkinson” Parvarti shot. “Our parents don’t believe we should be sharing a common room with a death eater” Glaring at Malfoy, she made it clear who she was referring to. Draco stiffened an went white as a ghost. Pansy sputtered, but before she had the chance to form a retort another voice broke the tension.

“That’s great you’re leaving, I’m sure if my parents knew the situation, they wouldn’t want me to share a common room with people lacking the capacity for forgiveness, you’ve saved me from a terrible moral dilemma” The smile Hermione gave them was as innocent as she could muster, though on the inside she was seething.

While most were surprised at her defence of Malfoy, those that weren’t had slight smirks adorning their faces. Daphne and Harry were having a silent war over who would back her up if needed but their efforts were for nought as the twins left the room with their noses slightly raised.

“Seems like no one wants to argue with you Mione” Harry joked.

“Can you blame them? She’s vindictive as they come” Glancing at Hermione apologetically, Ron shuddered. “I love you but I’d take a bat boggey from Ginny over just about anything from you. Remember those birds? And Marietta’s face?”

“And Rita skeeter” Harry Laughed “Or Snape in first year, Crabbe and Goyle in second, Malfoy in third”

“Cormack Mclaggen was the best one!” Harry was simultaneously laughing and shuddering by this point.

“Ok you two ENOUGH” Hermione couldn’t hold back her smirk.

“I want to know all those stories, especially the Malfoy one” Pansy had a look of admiration on her face.

“Oh! that was my least vindictive one, I just punched him in the face for being a prat”

“Broke my nose too”

“Wait, you broke his nose and that was your least vindictive payback? Shit Granger, Colour me impressed” Pansy was too, and it was this moment she realised she might actually become good friends with Hermione.

“Yes, well it will take a few more bonding nights to get all those stories out” Blushing, Hermione ate her breakfast as the portrait opened and Professor Flitwick walked in with the class schedules.

“Morning All!” he intoned. “With there being only 12 of you, the schedules are quite simple. You will class together with one core subject daily and up to two electives. All core subjects will be double sittings. Wednesday afternoons and Thursday mornings will be Free for you all as Wednesday night will be taken up by Care of Magical Creatures and Astronomy as none of you are taking both.” Looking around, the professor found Hermione, “Before you ask Miss Granger, the classes will be taken together but the work will be tiered in difficulty for those taking advanced lessons”.

Looking chastised, though she had done nothing wrong, Hermione nodded, noticing both Nott and Malfoy smirking at her predicament. “Now, four of you are taking the maximum 12 NEWTs, three with exactly the same schedule, so without giving too much away, I would advise you to pair off as most class assignments will be grouped and with your lack of free time, it would be advisable to partner with someone on a similar schedule”. Leaving it at that, Professor Flitwick left them to compare classes.

As expected, Hermione took charge. “Monday double potions, double ancient runes, muggle studies, Tuesday double charms, double Arithmancy, Wednesday double transfiguration, astronomy, Thursday Alchemy, double defence, Friday double herbology, spell crafting, double magical theory. Anyone the same?”

“We are” Nott gestured between himself and Malfoy. ‘great’ Hermione thought sarcastically knowing that they would partner up leaving her with a difficult situation finding a partner for her assignments.

“I’m basically the same Mia, except I’m not taking muggle studies on the Monday, and I have divination Tuesday after Arithmancy, we can pair up and work basically any other time” Daphne smiled.

 

Hermione spent the rest of Friday and the weekend reading over the first week’s material for each of her classes with Daphne, Pansy and Tracy. She was missing Luna and Ginny, but knew they had plenty to keep them busy as prefects. She was glad that the 8th years didn’t have the option to become prefects or play quiddich. It gave her the year to focus on her studies and her friends. She needed to enjoy her last year at Hogwarts, not struggle through with a load too large for her shoulders as she had each year before. So far, it was turning out perfectly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go guys!  
> Hope you enjoyed it, leave me a comment and let me know :)


	5. Paternity Potion

Monday morning bought the start of classes and Hermione was honestly excited. She was up and dressed, with her bag packed by 7am, sitting at her desk braiding her hair in front of a conjured mirror. Daphne was only slightly behind and almost as excited as Hermione. This was the first year she could really focus on her studies without her parents breathing down her throat to try and ‘snag’ Theodore. Joining Hermione, she applied light makeup before questioning if she could do the same for her. Surprisingly Hermione agreed and Daphne tutored her in makeup application and simple spells for acne and the like until they needed to head to breakfast at 7.30.

Arriving in the great hall held little fan-fare. The group of twelve made their way to their table and discussed classes. It seemed both Ron and Blaise had extremely light course loads taking only six subjects a piece. Hermione instantly regretted asking why Ron was taking so few classes.

“Not gonna have much free time between all the shagging Mione” He joked

“Just who do you plan on shagging Ronald? Most of the students are underage. I don’t think you’ve thought this through” He really hadn’t, he could only really choose between the seventh and eight years, once you took away those in relationships and those who were male, it didn’t leave him many options. Not that Hermione cared, she was pleased to see him come to that realisation though.

Pansy snickered before adding “Word travels fast around Hogwarts, don’t disappoint anyone or your chances will be even slimmer”. Ron’s face was smug, like he had no concerns about disappointing anyone, though Hermione took the opportunity to start a conversation with Harry.

“How many NEWTs you taking Harry?”

“only seven, I want to focus on them and try get a few O’s this year. We can’t all take twelve oh brightest-witch-of-the-age” The affection in Harry’s eyes was palpable, she knew he was only teasing.

Making their way to the potions room, Hermione noticed that only 8 were taking the class. Ron, Neville, Blaise and Hannah were missing. They were all curious to see who would be taking their class, Professor Slughorn was only taking those in 5th year and below. A familiar drawl was heard from the office attached to the classroom.

“You should all have read chapters one through three in order to prepare for this mornings class. If you have not you will attain zero marks for the day and will learn to be prepared for my lessons as you only have one double per week, we will not have time to play catch up”.

The silence was deafening. There stood Professor Snape in his usual black billowing robes. Hair greasy and sneer firmly in place. _’WHAT THE HELL??’_ Hermione thought. He died. In the boat house. Hermione tried to save him but couldn’t. _‘WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING?’_.

“Yes, you are all astonished I am alive, the daily Prophet reported me dead etcetera, etcetera. You have had time to adjust and now we can move on. As 8th years you are getting much freedom in your studies. You will be required to work in pairs with a person of similar class schedule as you will have the opportunity to complete one large assignment over the next term combining three to five classes dependent on your number of NEWTs. For example you may be given a potion to brew which takes a two moon cycle to prepare, you will be using your studies in herbology to collect ingredients and potions to brew, though you may also need to use your studies in astronomy to pick the ingredients at specific times in the lunar cycle and so on. I will be listing four extremely complicated brews on the board. Once you are paired, please choose your potion so we have no double ups”.

Turning his back to write the potion options, the Professor continued, “You will be expected to demonstrate the use of your potion to the class on the last Monday before Yule, giving you just under three months, preparation and brewing will be done outside of class time”. The potions which appeared on the board were Amortentia, Felix felicius, Draught of living death and Paternity potion, all of which were shown by Professor Slughorn in sixth year though the only one brewed was DoLD, and only Harry was successful because of Professor Snape’s book. Hermione was instantly running through which she would prefer to brew when Daphne interrupted he musings.

“Mia, we should do Paternity potion, you can use it to find out who your parents are” At Hermione’s look of uncertainty, Daphne added “Just their names Mia, then you can decide if you want to find them or not. This will just give you the option if you choose it”.

“I guess we could, the potion is notoriously difficult, and we could relate it to Potions, Herbology, Astronomy and Magical theory. Potentially even charms by discussing the pros and cons of using blood removed via the _extractum_ charm versus a cut to the hand” Filtering through the barrage of ideas springing forth, Hermione noticed Daphne letting the professor know their choice.

Theo and Draco were taking Amortentia, Pansy and Tracy were taking Daught of Living Death and Harry and Susan were taking the Felix. Odd that Harry wouldn’t brew the one he had already been successful with, but he probably just wanted to have some Felix on hand. The groups spent the rest of class planning out their assignments before it was time for lunch.

In the great hall, the group discussed their assignments and how they were linking them to other classes, the only other group ambitious enough to relate five classes were Nott and Malfoy, though they were hoping to use spell crafting and charms to create a charm which would release one from the infatuation without having any antidote nearby. It was striving, but if they pulled it off, their marks would be perfect.

***

It wasn’t until Thursday morning when Hermione and Daphne had a chance to sit down and work out their assignment. They quickly noticed just how much work would be going into it and were glad they hadn’t left it any longer, even though Hermione got a head start while Daphne was taking Divination.

“Ok, I’ve started the write-up and this is what I have so Far” said Hermione as she handed Daphne the parchment to read.

_Paternity Potion_

_Effect: When mixed with human blood, the paternity potion names both mother and father of the blood-giver_

_Side-effects: Once paternal parents are named, any enchantments placed on the blood-giver by those named will be broken._

_Characteristics_  
: Before addition of blood: Thick, silver and metallic look  
: After addition of blood: Potion will bubble and steam. The names of parents will appear in a cloud of grey steam.

_Brewing Time: One moon cycle excluding 41 day stewing of lacewing flies_

_Difficulty Level: Advanced and above_

_Ingredients:_  
-15 Lacewing flied (stewed for 41 days)  
-two lengths of fluxweed picked on a full moon  
-4 measures of knotgrass  
-2 measures of shredded boomslang skin  
\- 1 Asphodel picked on the day of blooming  
-1 measure of pollen from fanged geranium  
-1/4 measure flobberworm mucus  
-4 measures of blood from blood-giver

_Method:_  
-Part 1  
Stew 15 lacewing flies for 41 days under simmer heat.

_-Part 2_  
Add fluxweed and Knotgrass  
Stir counter clockwise for 18minutes  
Simmer potion for 3 days in containment bubble.

_-Part 3_  
Divide shredded boomslang skin into 12 equal portions  
Add one dividend of shredded boomslang skin  
stir clockwise for 22 rounds  
stir counter clockwise 3 rounds  
Repeat of remaining 11 dividends  
Place under cooling stasis for 12 days renewing cooling charm every 24 hours to keep temperature constant at 1 degree Celsius

_-Part 4 …_

“I haven’t finished the write-up but I know the entire method. After stewing the lacewing flies for a month and a half, it takes another month of brewing and then has a shelf life of 6 weeks. We have exactly 11 weeks before the assignment is due. So with a total of 10 weeks brewing and stewing we need to get started. The september full moon is in 3 weeks on the Monday for fluxweed collection. I’ve sourced all other ingredients except the Asphodel. I honestly know nothing about it, or how it blooms so I will head to the library over the weekend..”

Daphne was grinning like a loon, she loved Hermione’s enthusiasm but hated feeling useless “Is this a pair assignment or are we doing our own?” laughing she shrugged “I don’t mind either way I just think I misheard Professor Snape”.

“Sorry”

“Haha, its no problem Mia, I can actually be of assistance though. We grow Asphodel back home, it blooms two days before the full moon but wilts relatively quickly. You’ll get about 2 weeks under a stasis charm” Looking down and counting on her fingers, daphne added ”which leaves  us pretty short on time. If my calculations are correct the November full moon is 8.5 weeks away, given blooming and potion timing we will need to pick and use the Asphodel on the same night” she started writing in a muggle notebook she pulled out of her bag. “I’m just noting the important days in my diary, seeing as you’ve started the potion write-up, you should continue it and write about the history, its creation and similar potions, I will do the herbology side and complete essays of each plant, could you also actually do essays on the boomslang skin and flobber worms? That will give us four essays each to write. We can complete our star charts and moon cycle charts in astronomy too”

Looking at Daphne with her mouth agape, Hermione started laughing “Oh my god, you’re amazing! This is already so different than working with the boys, this will be the first time I’ve actually worked with a partner and not completed an assignment on my own!” Hermione was relieved beyond measure. She loved the school work and had no problem with the research but when the mark of another fell completely on her shoulders, the anxiety was too much.

Daphne was fast becoming Hermione’s closest confidant. She hadn’t spread a single word about Hermione’s recurring nightmares. They happened the entire weekend before classes begun and then by Tuesday Daphne had taken their beds and merged them so Hermione could hold her hand through the night.

Realising it was time for Alchemy, the girls packed away their assignment notes and made their way to class.

Alchemy only consisted of the four students taking 12 NEWTS, they were in a small classroom around a circular desk when Professor Littlehorn joined them and started his lecture.

“I am aware that five of your other classes are linking assignments leaving you with one larger project, so with such a small class, I was hoping to give you all a group assignment here. As you should all be aware, Alchemy focuses on the study of nature’s four basic elements, Fire, earth, air and water. We will learn, in theory, how to control these elements, though this is rarely accomplished in a single year of study, and then move on to the transmutation of substances into metals or gold through this control”.

The students were excited, Alchemy was rarely offered at Hogwarts and even then, only to students who received Outstanding in their transfiguration and magical theory OWLs. I am also aware that aside from your other class assignments, you have a year assignment for transfiguration offered only for the 8th years. Though you haven’t been made aware of it as yet, you will be required to find your animagus forms and successfully shift which will take up a large amount of your time. This class will also require a large portion of your free time as you will only have one assignment, and that will be to master your element which we will find out today. The class will be self-guided for the first three terms while you complete your assignments and then in the final term we will come together and learn about the transmutation aspect of alchemy. Are there any questions?” Smiling, Professor Littlehorn scanned the small group. Nott raised his hand.

“I’ve studied Alchemy from home, are you sure it is safe for us to learn to wield our elements? With our cores open to nature it can lead to…complications”

“I assume you are talking about the very rare occurrence of elemental bonding?”

“I am”

“Mr Nott, the chance of finding an elemental soul-mate is extremely rare and if it were to occur, it would be a joyous occasion, not something to fear. The link between elemental magic and the soul runs very deep and is tricky to control. In my 32 years of teaching alchemy, I have had 256 students successfully find and control their element over sixth and seventh years, only a single quartet match has encountered a soul bond through its manifestation”

With a ‘hmph’ Nott nodded. This would be something Hermione read into. When things had such small odds, they usually jumped on her… or Harry. “Sir, how do we find our element?” Hermione queried. “And also, does the Hogwarts library have any books I can read on these quartet bonds?”

“Your element will be an extension of your personality. For example, those of water are intuitive and creative. They tend to be slightly reclusive and hide themselves from others emotionally, though when they do love, they love more deeply than those of other elements. Air wielders are brilliant, curious and talkative, they are generally intellectuals and tend to be quite impatient. They are also known as the most loyal element”

“One guess that’s Granger’s element” Nott joked.

With a look of amusement, Professor Littlehorn continued. “Those of earth are practical, disciplined and focussed, they are known to be perfectionists and leaders, but are generally judgemental and controlling. And finally, fire signs are impulsive, dramatic and fun. They tend to be highly self-conscious and self-blaming. In regard to the bonding, no, the books wont be found in the Hogwarts library, though from my readings bonds can occur between those of differing elements, one for each element making a quartet bond. History has records of two and three magicals bonding when the remaining members are not found and the bond is seen as a marriage by the ministry” Clapping, he advised it was time to get started.

“You will place the tip of your want to your chest and say ‘elementum de anima revelare’ as so” Professor Littlehorn then went on to perform the spell on himself, he was encompassed in a deep blue light. “The colour surrounding you will identify your element, I am a water wielder. Those of fire will be encased in red, those of earth in green and those of air in white.”

Each person cast the spell on themselves. Both Daphne and Not were encased in a deep blue while Malfoy in a deep green. Hermione couldn’t see her own though from the look on Nott’s face, he had been correct.

“Well at least none of us are having our choices stripped by being elementally bonded” Nott joked.

“Unfortunately, Mister Nott, until one can actually wield their element they will not know. Elements must be wielded and if a soul mate is in the vicinity, they will be encompassed in a gold light. But fear not, soul matches have never been found between two matching elements so you and Miss Greengrass are safe” he smiled. At this, they were dismissed and headed for defence.

***

Friday night, Hermione and Daphne sat down to continue their large joint assignment. Hermione was hoping to finish one essay a week so that once the more strenuous part of the brewing came around, she wouldn’t be too bogged down. They figured it would take four weeks in astronomy to complete their star charts and then they would assess the different blood gathering charms together. While they were happily working, Blaise and Ron were making a fuss over the couches and ordering Blaise’s elf Lollie around.

Daphne was becoming irritated at the constant chatter, Blaise and Ronald may not have a heavy academic schedule but they should respect those that did and take their shenanigans elsewhere. By the fourth grunt, Hermione was expecting Daphne to hex them.

“Blaise, why may I ask, are you making such an infernal racket while we are studying? Hermione and I wish to get good grades and we can barely concentrate over the noise you are both making” Hermione was impressed, Daphne was always poised and collected – even in the face of Blaise and Ronald it seemed.

“It’s the second Friday of the month. We’re preparing for bonding night” Gesturing around the room, he just shrugged as if drinking was more important than homework.

“Bonding night was last week, you said twice a month” Honestly, Hermione thought he just wanted any excuse to get drunk. Which was probably spot on, it would be boring with so few classes.

“Didn’t count” he simply replied and continued setting up.

Looking to Daphne, Hermione shrugged and started gathering her belongings “No point arguing I guess, we won’t get anymore done either way. I’m almost finished the first essay and I’m done with the method statement too. How did you get on?”

 “I’m almost done with my second essay. Couldn’t sleep last night. We are making good progress though”.

Heading to their dorm and showering, the girls decided to each put on a pair of Hermione’s ‘exercise leggings and oversized sweaters. Neither were overly interested in the ‘party’ so comfort was their only priority.

“These clothes are amazing Mia, I’ve never been so comfortable in my whole life” She laughed. “The pants don’t leave much to the imagination though. My father would throw a hippogriff if I wore them at home”.

“We’ll probably pass out again, and I’d prefer to already be in comfy sleep clothes, noone down there will care either way”

“You’d be surprised Mia, Pureblood witches, or at least those of us in Slytherin, never wear revealing clothes like this. We are expected to be pure until we are at least betrothed though our fathers hope until we are married. Theodore and Draco will probably hyperventilate. They wouldn’t have seen anything like this”

“Not Zabini?”

“No, he spends his summers prowling muggle clubs and the like. He will probably enjoy looking… maybe we should take a blanket down” Laughing, they made their way downstairs after getting Pansy and Tracy to join them.

Noticing Ginny on Harry’s lap, Hermione ran the remaining distance and threw herself on top of Ginny. “Gin, I’ve missed you so much! How is everything going so far?”

“Good Mione, being a prefect is fun, but it’s definitely going to take up more time than I realised. Lu couldn’t come tonight because she has rounds though”

“That’s too bad, but I’m glad to see you. You’ll need to leave Harry’s bed a little more often and come catch up with me. Daph and I joined our beds to make one bigger one, so there’s room for sleepovers”

Daphne sat next to Harry more calmly before adding “Bring Lu along too, I miss our sleepovers”

Noticing she was probably crushing Harry by sitting on Ginny, Hermione blushed and apologised jumping off before giving Harry a kiss on the cheek in apology. “If you’re stealing her for another girls night, no pixie wine this time ok?” Harry joked.

“Trace and me coming to the next pixie wine night and sleepover. We’ll have to squish in with six of us though” Pansy smiled. Hermione noticed that she was quickly adapting to the overly friendly Gryffindors but it was expected, self-preservation was a Slytherin trait after all.

Looking around, Hermione noticed that Neville, Hannah and Susan were missing, she queried to the group and Harry let everyone know they had a date night planned in the astronomy tower and may join everyone later.

Clapping his hands, Blaise bought the attention to himself. “Right so Ronnie and I decided that tonight’s activity would be sharing your craziest memory of someone else in the group. Get to know each other from someone else’s point of view. The stories can be embarrassing or scary, but nothing depressing ok?” Looking around the group Blaise smirked “You gotta drink EVERY time you’re mentioned in any story and I think we should start with Ronnie cause I wanna hear those stories about Hermione not being a swot” causing Hermione to groan. She was going to be really hungover tomorrow…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so Snape's back!  
> It may seem like I skimmed over this but I have reasons :)  
> You'll find out more later on PROMISE!


	6. She's scary that one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So its been a while since I've updated.  
> Life and all.  
> Enjoy!

Ron started the group off. “My story is actually three stories that were the three times I was genuinely scared of Mione” Hermione groaned “Just to clarify, I only drink once per story right?”

“No Mione, a sip every time I mention your name” Ron clarified. “So, the first time was in fifth year when we had formed the secret defence group. Hermione had got word around to meet at the Hogs Head for those interested and then convinced Harry to teach it. All these people show up and Harry starts talking but Hermione stops him and tells everyone to sign this piece of parchment if they wanna be in the group right, but we thought it was weird, like if someone found it we’d all be in trouble. But Hermione basically said she needed numbers and stuff so we all signed and then got on with the meeting.”

At this point Ginny was already laughing and Harry was shaking his head. Ginny barely took a breath before blurting out “Oh this was so good. I forget what a vindictive little thing you are Mione”. The interest of all the snakes had been caught by this comment.

“So anyways” Ron continued, “On our walk back to school Harry asked why she made everyone sign and Hermione’s like ‘oh its just insurance’ and wouldn’t explain so we all just dropped it…Drink Mione… and then after a few weeks we had been exposed and no one could work out who dobbed us in to Umbitch but Hermione had this fucking scary gleam in her eye and was smirking like Malfoy does so Harry and Me were worried and then I n the great hall the ravens started walking in and she starts smiling like crazy. We look over and Marietta Edgecombe had pimples all over her face and proper red ones spelling sneak across her head. And then Mione just goes ‘bitch’ and starts eating her porridge!”

“You know she pulled out of Hogwarts because she couldn’t get rid of them” Ginny said through her giggles. “Not that she didn’t deserve it!”.

“Don’t care, and stand by my statements on the day, she’s a sneak and a bitch”

“Shit granger” Pansy was clearly impressed “You are vindictive. I love it” Hermione laughed and cheersed her new friend.

“Yeah, it’s like seeing you in a new light” Nott was staring at her amused “You sure you weren’t meant to be in Slytherin?”

Looking to Ron, Hermione gestured him to continue, smiling at his dramatic story telling. “What are the other two Ron? I want a break from drinking at some time in the future”

“The second time was in fourth year… so really it was the first time but its even worse I think, because she still uses it to this day. During the Tri Wizard tournament when Rita Skeeter was writing those stories about you sleeping with Harry AND Victor” Looking at Hermione to clarify she remembered, as if she could forget “Anyways Mione was pissed and told skeeter to back off but she didn’t so Mione lured her to a broom closet by loudly saying to Harry to meet her in there that night. See, she worked out that skeeter was an unregistered animagus, a beetle and knew she wouldn’t miss proof that Harry and Mione were together. So Mione shows up and skeeter is already in there in her animagus form and Mione captures her in an unbreakable jar. Kept her on her bedside table in the dorm for 6 weeks feeding her rotten leaves and making her ass glow like a firefly when she wanted to read in bed. Only let her out with a promise to never write about her without approval again…and now, any time we have an interview with her, Mione brings the jar and sits it on the table”

Hermione just snickered “Should have got an unbreakable vow, but life is full of little disappointments” Looking around, Hermione noticed that all the Slytherins had mouths agape string at her. She needed to move on quickly before the questions started. ”What’s the last one Ron? I’m nearly drunk already so try avid using my name please”.

“That was the point Mione, You’ll be less worried about what people think”

“Alright, alright get the last one out then”

“Right so the last time was last year when Hermione polyjuiced herself as Bellatrix Lestrange and broke into her Gringotts Vault”

“WHAT?” all the Slytherins except Daphne exclaimed.Daphne just nodded “I like this one, it’s crazy”

“You broke into Gringotts?” Nott questioned.

“You polyjuiced yourself into my crazy aunt?” Malfoy screeched.

“Yes and yes but if I know Ron, and I do, that isn’t the bit he was scared of me for”

Ron nodded vigorously “Shes right, so we got into the vault and stole what we needed and then the polyjuice wore off and we were found out. There were goblins attacking us from every angle and this dragon blowing fire at everyone”

“Yeah I’ve seen those dragons, they protect the old family vaults” Malfoy noted.

“Yeah well we were screwed and Harry and Me looked to Mione because she always has a plan and she fucking starts firing spells at the dragon’s chains and frees it then jumps on its back making us follow and she bloody rides the thing to freedom”. Looking directly at Hermione he added “The goblins still don’t like you, you know. I’m surprised they let you access your vaults”.

“You’re fucking insane” Zabini noted. “Hey Drake, did you know she likes riding dragons?” laughing at his own joke.

Both Hermione and Malfoy blushed and it didn’t go unnoticed.Pansy took advantage like any good Slytherin. “Oh Drakey, you reliving your crush from third and fourth years?” looking to Hermione she continued “After you broke his nose in third year he was besotted, then he was a horrible date at the yule ball. Wouldn’t even take his eyes off you long enough to dance with me”

“Pans, really? That counts as your story!” Malfoy looked down at his hands, trying and failing to hide the blush on his cheeks.

“Well if that’s the case I’m making it worth it. He also went from loving Victor Krum to burning any fan stuff of him he had. He went from the best to the worst seeker in the world without even playing after he took Hermione to yule. Quite amusing really” Pansy was really enjoying herself.

“I hate you” Malfoy said in jest. I’m never going to live this down and you know it. He purposely avoided Hermione’s eyes.

Nott couldn’t let that go without joining in “You laugh now but his story will probably be about your obsession with Lockhart or that time you made out with Cormack McLaggen”

“Oh please don’t remind me” Pansy fake gagged “whose your story about Ginny”

“Well at the mention of McLaggen, my story will also be about Hermione” Grinning devilishly at her friend, Ginny went on “ And like Ron, I’m joining two stories but ill make them quick so Mione doesn’t need to drink too much. So Hermione only ever watched quidditch to support us three and she clearly needed to do something to entertain herself because she would wandlessly confound McLaggen at tryouts so he never got on the team”

“Hey! In my defence he always wanted keeper and that was Ron’s spot” Hermione defended herself.

“Ok but what about when you lit Snape on fire at the match between us and Slytherin”

“I thought he was jinxing Harry and my spell work was limited”

“Jesus Granger, how were you not expelled?” Nott wondered aloud.

“To get expelled you have to get caught. Innocent until proven guilty and all that” Hermione wasn’t getting a break. She was getting pissed very quickly and everyone could see it in the sluggish movements and slightly slurred speech.

Harry noticed it was his turn and started “In keeping to the theme of getting Hermione pissed I’m going to reminisce on that time in second year she stole ingredients from professor Snape’s stores and brewed Polyjuice in the girls bathroom”.

“I’m going to stop you there and ask why” Malfoy was curious. Who stole from Snape and got away with it and who the hell brewed Polyjuice in second year?

“Oh, I thought you were the heir of Slytherin and wanted to know for sure. So Mione brewed it and Ron and I turned into Crabbe and Goyle and interrogated you in the common room”

“What?” Malfoy was in shock. He didn’t remember a time Crabbe or Goyle seemed off “ What did you do with the real Crabbe and Goyle?”

“Oh, Hermione filled their cupcakes with sleeping potions and we hid them in a broom closet together. But the best part was Hermione was going to turn into Millicent Bullstrode but the hair she stole was from her cat and she turned herself into a half cat”

Ginny laughed “Oh my gosh, remember the furballs Mione, and when I caught you licking yourself! Amazing” she sighed reverently.

“I couldn’t help it, it was instinct! And you all laugh but my vision has improved since that and I’m much more graceful”

“You’re more flexible too!” Ginny added smirking and wiggling her eyebrows at her friend.

“I think poor Mia has been targeted enough tonight” Daphne directed everyone to tell stories about other people and Hermione finally got a break from drinking.

As Tracy, Pansy and Daphne started reliving stories of their time together at Hogwarts, Hermione started looking around the group. She had drunk far too much and couldn’t keep up with the story anyway. She noticed Malfoy and Nott whispering to each other, probably deciding what story they would share. Looking at them, she couldn’t help but notice how attractive they were, in a similar but opposite sort of way. While they were both tall, lean and toned, Nott had dark brown hair and deep blue eyes with a slightly tanned skin tone, just a little lighter than her own and Malfoy was pale with white blonde hair and grey eyes. Both had angular jaws and Nott’s lips were slightly fuller than Malfoy’s. Yep, they were attractive and she needed to stop staring. But the alcohol, she couldn’t, she didn’t have the willpower. She could tell her eyes were slightly lidded and her lips slightly parted as the alcohol fuelled the inebriated arousal she felt. She felt a clench in her lower abdomen, and rubbed her thighs together as discreetly as she could.

Malfoy looked up and caught her eye but instead of looking away he held her gaze and smiled. Not smirked, and not smiled like most people, but a very small, shy smile. Before Hermione could catch herself, she returned a small shy smile back and let her gaze drift to Nott. Unsurprisingly, her was staring at her too. He gave a small nod and friendly smirk to her. Hermione dropped her head grinning. She needed to stop drinking. This would end badly.

The group laughed loudly. Clearly something Zabini had said was funny but the three caught in a staring contest missed it. Wiping his eyes, Zabini nudged Nott “Your turn mate”.

Nott looked to Malfoy and shrugged looking sheepish. “NO” Malfoy pleaded. “I will kill you in your sleep if you dare. Azkaban will be worth it”

“No you wont” Nott stated, mostly to reassure himself Hermione thought. She had to admit, her interest was piqued. The two seemed close and if anyone had dirt on someone else, it was between best friends.

“One time, Draco and I were going to bed in the dorm and Draco must have botched up the silencing charm on his bed, I had to lay there and listen to him wanking. As he finished off I had the pleasure of letting Draco know the silencing charm hadn’t worked” Nott chuckled.

Everyone else had tears running down their faces from laughing so hard. Malfoy was beet red and staring at the floor. His embarrassment was intense and Hermione felt a bit sorry for him, not sorry enough to put the attention on herself though so she reminded the group “Malfoy you gotta drink, he said your name three times”.

Malfoy used his drinking time to hide his face as long as possible and probably to try think of a story that was just as embarrassing for Nott. When his eyes lit up and an evil grin appeared on his lips, he clearly had a good one. Hermione looked at Nott to gauge his reaction, while his posture looked calm and unbothered, he was subtly nibbling on his lower lip giving Hermione an unbidden thought ‘I wish I was nibbling on that lip’.

“ _Theo_ has had the same crush since third year and up until the end of fifth year _Theo_ would learn her schedule and basically stalk her so that he could sit and watch her as long as possible. Making an educated guess, I believe _The_ o still harbours feelings for that same girl” Emphasising Theo’s name to ensure he drunk as much as possible. It seemed Malfoy wasn’t done though. “Theo also wrote poetry about her and drew pictures of her that he keeps in a scrapbook in his trunk” Smirking at Nott, Malfoy settled in pleased with himself.

“You’re a git” Nott was glaring daggers at his blonde friend, but his eyes were filled with self-depreciating humour.

While the boys were laughing hysterically, the girls simply looked intrigued. Pansy broke the silence “Theo, care to share some of that poetry?”

“Definitely not!”

Not letting him get off so easy, Malfoy piped up “It was truly terrible, one line was something about the yellow flecks in her eyes. He was rhyming _yellow_ with feeling _mellow_ and stirring down _below_ ”. Even some of the girls laughed at this, but Hermione though it was sweet.

“You’re all laughing but if I had have received poetry from a boy in fourth year I would have been impressed no matter how bad it was”

“We know Mione” Ginny giggled reminiscing. “You bragged about Krum’s poetry for months. Even though he wrote your name as Hermininny”.

Hermione rolled her eyes “At least he put in the effort. It’s easy to buy chocolate or flowers but things like poetry need true determination” smiling at Nott, Hermione wanted him to know she thought the poetry was a great idea, so she said as much. “I think its great, you should be proud of yourself. If you had of actually sent it, you would have had her on your arm for sure”.

A look was shared between Nott and Malfoy but by this stage, Hermione was too drunk to decipher what it could possibly mean. Blaise took that moment to direct a change in the nights game by suggesting ‘Never Have I Ever’. As usual, Blaise started with a banger “Never have I ever called someone the wrong name during sex” Blaise clearly wanted an excuse to drink because he had done that, but surprisingly so had Ginny and Harry. ‘Not asking them to clarify that one’ Hermione thought.

The game continued “Never have I ever gone skinny dipping” Laughing out loud, Daphne, Ginny and Hermione cheers before downing their drinks.

“Never have I ever used a common household item as a sex toy” That one was Ginny and she was really upset when only Ron drank. “Damn, I thought that was a good one” She pouted.

“Never have I ever had a wet dream” When every boy drank as well as Ginny and Hermione, Ginny complained. Mine was way better Harry, not fair!”

Pansy was next “Never have I ever walked in on my parents having sex” Ron and Ginny drank to this one shuddering at the memory, but surprisingly so did Malfoy.

“Cant keep my parents off each other at home, its revolting” Looking like his drink was about to resurface, Malfoy shook himself.

“Your parents are pretty bad Drake, even I’ve witnessed that” Nott tried patting Malfoys shoulder in a show of support.

‘I think it’s beautiful” Pansy sighed. “To find out the person you have an arranged marriage with fits you so perfectly is a dream come true, not every witch is so lucky”.

“Never have I ever made out with someone in the potions classroom” Tracy asked blushing as she drank her drink. Blaise drunk his too offering her a high five she shyly took. Hermione drank to that one too, trying to make it as inconspicuous as possible. She failed. “WHO?” Ginny screeched

Sighing that she hadn’t gotten away with that one, Hermione replied “Victor, obviously, you know I haven’t kissed that many boys Gin”.

Daphne’s turn was next and she seemed excited, this was a game where you learnt secrets, and Daphne revelled in secrets. “Never have I ever had a crush on someone else in this room”. Hermione looked around noticing everyone except Tracy was drinking. She had, more than one. She raised her glass to her lips as confidently as possible and finished her drink before her turn.

“Never have I ever fallen asleep in the library after curfew” she asked.

“BORING!” Blaise yelled. “Come on Granger, make it fun”

“Ok then, Never have I ever done any sexual act in the library” she asked looking around to see who had defiled her precious library. Only Harry and Ginny it seemed.

“Wow, I’m surprised Mia” Daphne raised her eyebrows. “I thought you said the smell of books and parchment was a turn on for you”

Blushing at Daphne’s reveal of something so personal, Hermione shot back “No, I said my Amortentia smelled of OLD books and NEW parchment, spearmint toothpaste, fresh air and green apples…so yeah, I guess it is” realisation crashed down and Hermione realised she actually wanted to snog someone in the library, preferably the restricted section, maybe after they’d brushed their teeth or eaten a green apple.

“That’s a lot of smells for Amortentia” Nott noted “Usually people only smell 2-3. I’ve never heard of someone having five scents”. Maybe we can do some research on that for the project Draco” He thought out loud.

Hermione started yawning but was actually having a fun night and didn’t quite want it to end, though luck was not on her side and she fell asleep.

***

Noticing Hermione was out cold, Harry shifted Ginny off his lap letting her know he was going to put her to bed and come back down. Walking over to Hermione, he lifted her bridal style and made to her rooms.

Coming back downstairs, the conversation had shifted to Hermione. It seemed most of the group hadn’t known quite how much of a rule breaker Hermione had been in her time at Hogwarts, Harry wasn’t interested in talking about his best-friend when she wasn’t present so grabbing Ginny, he told the group they were off to bed. Pansy and Tracy agreed following them upstairs.

***

While Blaise was regaling Ron with his past exploits, Draco and Theo were having a hushed discussion.

“Did you notice her staring?” Theo questioned

“Yeah but she’s just drunk” Draco suggested

“Look Drake, I know we’ve both had a crush on her for years but I just want to make a pact here and now” Looking at his best mate he knew nothing could come between them, but after a war, he wasn’t taking the chance. “If either of us are lucky enough to finally have a chance with her, we won’t let it come between us. I love you and I’ve been in love with her for years, I know you have to”

“yeah I know…” Draco considered his words, standing and heading to bed he looked back to Theo who was following him. “And Theo, I love you too”.

Smiling back at his best mate, Theo wondered if they loved each other in the same way. He doubted those words meant as much to Draco as they did to him.


End file.
